NGO calls for U.S. to set seafood labeling standards

Environmental activist group Oceana is calling for the U.S. government to set a standard for how seafood should be labeled.

In a new campaign, “One Name for One Fish,” Oceana is asking for species-specific naming for labels, menus and packaging of all seafood sold in the United States.

As examples, Oceana cited 56 separate species that can all be sold under the current guidelines with the label “snapper,” and 64 different species can be called “grouper.” Right now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only requires seafood to bear the “acceptable market name,” and Beth Lowell, Oceana’s senior campaign director, said that’s not good enough.

“The current seafood naming system makes it almost impossible for consumers to make informed choices about what they eat,” Lowell said. “For example, it’s difficult for seafood buyers to know if their ‘grouper’ sandwich is made with a more responsibly-fished black grouper caught off Florida’s Gulf coast or if it’s actually a vulnerable giant grouper from the Indo-Pacific, or even a critically endangered Warsaw grouper.”

Oceana has made headlines with a series of studies it conducted on seafood labeling in the United States, determining that a large number of seafood products are sold under the wrong labels, either by accident or by design. Lowell said species-specific naming will prevent mislabeling, help with traceability and allow consumers to better educate themselves about what they are eating.

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