Finally Put An End to Seafood Fraud

Final signature count: 0

0 signatures toward our 0 goal

**Over 90% of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported from other countries.** In 2009 alone, this resulted in 5.5 billion pounds of edible fishery products, valued at $14.8 billion dollars.

It's a large industry with a lot of moving parts, some of which aren’t working properly. A 2012 study by Oceana reported that less than 1% of imported seafood is inspected by the government for fraud. The result: in order to maximize profit, several species are mislabeled at various points throughout the supply chain, which means there’s a good chance that the fish you think you're eating isn't that fish at all — that cod isn't cod; that grouper isn't grouper; that tuna isn't tuna.

This can result in severely overpaying for fish at the supermarket and in restaurants. Consumption of fraudulent fish can result in illness. And, in some instances, **eating the wrong species of fish could result in death.**

In 2014, the U.S. Government tried to address the issue of seafood fraud. The Presidential Task Force on Combating IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud was established, and in 2015 published its Action Plan for Implementing Task Force Recommendations, which proposed a seafood traceability program. This program, however, requires traceability for only 13 "at-risk" seafood species of the over 1,700 imported seafood species.

The result? Without thorough traceability, there are still gaping holes in the seafood import supply chain where fraud can occur. Oceana's most recent report found **on average one in five of the more than 25,000 samples of seafood tested worldwide was mislabeled.**

This isn't right. We must call upon the Seafood Inspection Program, and let them know that 13 "at-risk" species is far from enough, that in order to eliminate seafood fraud, traceability must extend to ALL species. **Sign the petition so you're so safe in knowing that the fish you're about to eat is the fish you wanted to eat.**