The latest Oceana investigation set its sights on Denmark, where the marine conservation organization and two media outlets found that 18 percent of cod sold in the Copenhagen area is mislabeled.
Oceana, Danish newspaper Søndagsavisen and the TV program “Go’Aften Danmark” (“Good evening Denmark”) found that 18 percent of fish labeled cod was actually haddock or saithe. The organization collected 120 samples from fishmongers, supermarkets and restaurants, which were tested by DTU Aqua.
“We decided to concentrate on one species only because of the number of samples we were able to take. Cod is one of the most wanted and common species of fish that is being eaten in Denmark,” Hanna Paulomaki, Baltic Sea project manager for Oceana, told SeafoodSource.
Oceana considers the mislabeling rate high, compared to some other European countries. A similar study conducted by France last year showed a 3.5 percent mislabeling rate.
“On the other hand, some other studies from Spain, Italy and Greece have shown about 30 percent fraud, so this is definitely significantly lower than those,” Paulomaki said.
Oceana officials believe the cod mislabeling was intentional, since the haddock and saithe are “considered as lower-value fish, creating a monetary loss to the consumer,” according to Paulomaki.
“To improve the situation, we need better enforcement of the existing legislation and a better traceability system overall,” she said. “Also, making consumers more aware of this potential problem is important, because then every one of us can always ask their fishmonger what and from where and how the fish they’re buying has been caught.”
Meanwhile, Paulomaki said that teaming up with the two media organizations “worked out perfectly” in the Denmark study. “But, deciding on cooperation varies case by case. In some other situations, we could combine efforts also with other NGOs or do the work by ourselves,” she said.
Photo by Carlos Minguell, courtesy of Oceana.
