The Maryland Seafood Authenticity and Enforcement Act has been introduced to provide Maryland residents with more information about the seafood they purchase.
In addition to requiring that seafood is properly identified at the point of sale, the bill would also prohibit a seller from knowingly mislabelling a species. If passed, there would also be stronger regulations for the labeling of Maryland’s iconic blue crab, including identifying its origin and limiting sales of a product labelled ‘blue crab’ to the actual species callinectes sapidus.
Last year, Oceana found one-third of seafood tested around the US to be mislabelled according to the Food and Drug Administration’s guidelines, including 26% of the seafood tested in the Washington, DC and Maryland area.
“To protect the public health, to protect the consumer, and to protect our watermen from unfair competition, Marylanders deserve to know that they are being served the seafood they ordered,” said Maryland Del. Eric Luedtke, who introduced the bill. “And when I order a Maryland-style crab cake, I want to know whether it is actually being made with crab flown halfway around the world. This legislation will give Marylanders the information they deserve about the seafood they’re eating, and I hope my colleagues will agree.”
