{"id":1504,"date":"2013-09-19T08:29:36","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T15:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catalinaop.com\/?p=1504"},"modified":"2013-09-19T08:29:36","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T15:29:36","slug":"whats-in-a-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catalinaop.com\/whats-in-a-name\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s In a Name?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rebecca Gardon<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Fish<\/a>Recently media has been rumbling about mislabeling of seafood and fish fraud. \u00a0It’s clear that people are genuinely confused about seafood. We don’t blame them.<\/p>\n

Recent studies by ocean conservationist group Oceana report that roughly one-third of U.S seafood is mislabeled. Customers unknowingly may get duped when restaurants and grocery stores substitute a cheaper fish such as tilapia for a more expensive one such as red snapper. Think of it like paying for filet mignon but getting hamburger meat instead. That’s outright fraud, and it’s also illegal.<\/p>\n

The idea of seafood mislabeling on the other hand isn’t so black and white, and making distinctions is important.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot to consider and retailers are in a tough spot. The FDA recognizes 1,700 marketable fish; however, states have their own guidelines and sometimes state and federal law disagree. In California for example, 13 species of rockfish can be labeled and sold as Pacific red snapper<\/a>. Yet for someone looking to eat actual snapper, only the species true red snapper fits the bill.<\/p>\n

Some fish may be coined with alternative names for marketing purposes. Chilean seabass<\/a> is actually the more intimidating-sounding Patagonian toothfish. And what sushi restaurants sometimes serve as white tuna or king tuna isn’t tuna at all – it’s escolar. To complicate matters further, escolar might also be labeled on a menu as butterfish, a term that can also apply to the entirely different sablefish, which also goes by black cod<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What can a fish fan do?<\/strong><\/p>\n