Eliminating the behaviors that lead to cheating, and influencing federal and state officials to enforce the rules, are vital in the fight against economic fraud, a panel of five industry experts emphasized at the “Truth in Tare” seminar during the International Boston Seafood Show on Sunday.
There’s no question that fraud is one of the biggest challenges facing the U.S. seafood industry. But finding solutions has proven difficult. The adulteration of seafood species names, actual weights and country of origin are the three most common forms of fraud.
“I use the Judge Judy method, which is ‘Don’t lie to me.’ How many ounces are there in a pound — 13, 14, 15? No, it’s 16. There’s no variation. There’s no plus, no minus. I want 16 ounces,” said Morton Nussbaum, CEO and chairman of International Marketing Specialists (IMS) in West Newton, Mass. “Either you’re a crook, or you’re not a crook.”
Nussbaum spoke of one instance where a major club-store chain put in a purchase order with IMS for shrimp packed at 85 percent net weight.
Panelists insisted that refusing to engage in practices that lead to fraud, such as online bidding, is one potential solution.
“We don’t bid,” said Jose Thomas, founder of Choice Canning Co. in Edison, N.J. “I hope the responsible people in the industry, especially the retailers, foodservice operators and wholesalers — stop this online bidding. If that happens, things will change.”
“At a Dutch-style auction, you start at a price and go down. So you’re bidding against yourself — against God knows who,” said Nussbaum. “It’s a form of entrapment that only favors the buyer.”
The lack of enforcement is also a major challenge facing the fight against fraud.
“The federal government is basically broken. There are four different agencies responsible for economic fraud, and none of them talk to each other. They admit that they don’t have enough money in their budgets. They’re basically telling [the cheaters], ‘Have a good time,’” said Ross Paasche of Seatrade International, who’s also the president of the American Scallop Association (ASA). “The federal government has basically waved the white flag, and it’s disheartening.”
Last November, the ASA stepped up its efforts to fight fraud by pledging to accurately label all scallop products — fresh and frozen, domestic and foreign — and establishing a system of self-policing its 18 members.
Also participating in seminar were Lisa Weddig of the National Fisheries Institute and William Gergits of Therion International LLC. James Wright, associate editor of SeaFood Business magazine, moderated the question-and-answer discussion.
View the recent SeafoodSource webinar titled "Protect Yourself from Short-Weighting" >
