Two US senators have called on President Barack Obama to direct federal agencies to better coordinate their efforts to fight seafood fraud.
Senators Edward J. Markey and Roger Wicker have written to President Obama asking him to ensure that fraud-fighting agencies work together to improve coordination and communication, strengthen border inspections to detect mislabelled seafood, establish a standard for national traceability of seafood products, and ensure that consumers have access to information about where their seafood comes from.
Seafood fraud is a serious problem in the United States, with surveys showing that some common fish are mislabelled nearly all of the time. A recent nationwide study of seafood mislabelling by Oceana found that one-third of the samples of commonly swapped and regionally significant species they tested were mislabelled. Rates of mislabelling for certain popular species, such as red snapper and white tuna, were as high as 94% and 84%, respectively.
“The urgent need to fight seafood fraud and establish a standard of traceability can be met only through coordinated interagency action, and it is time for the agencies to come together to find solutions,” write the Senators to President Obama.
The Senators cite a 2009 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study that highlighted the problems between the three agencies with primary jurisdiction to address seafood fraud - the Food and Drug Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Customs and Border Protection – including gaps in communication, duplicative inspections, and more. The GAO found that these agencies could and should do more to address seafood fraud.
The full letter can be found here.
