Labelling and Traceability
Detailed labelling and accurate traceability are two of the most important elements to ensure seafood purchased at any point along the supply chain is indeed what it says it is.
Latest work:
- In November 2021, SeaChoice commissioned YouGov Plc to conduct a survey of over 1,000 Canadians on their perceptions of seafood traceability and labelling. The strong public support for better traceability and labelling requirements in Canada demonstrated by the survey comes at a critical time as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is currently seeking feedback on the development of a boat-to-plate seafood traceability program. Find the results of the survey here.
- In summer 2021, Organic Ocean, Emily De Sousa, Dr. Robert Hanner and SeaChoice collaborated on a study to see whether DNA authentication could be a useful and practical way for a seafood business to verify species information for its products. SeaChoice collected 36 samples from Organic Ocean’s seafood assortment and then we compared the DNA results to the common and scientific names given by the supplier, and by Organic Ocean. See the full results of this study here and the executive summary here.
- In late 2020, SeaChoice published an investigative report into the use of environmental claims on seafood products in Canadian grocery stores and the results of a poll of 1,000 Canadians on their perspectives about environmental claims. You can find the details of the report, Certification, Verification or Fabrication? an investigation of seafood environmental claims in Canadian retailers, here and the poll results here.
In addition to accurately identifying environmentally sustainable seafood, proper labelling and traceability can also identify and uncover seafood that has social and/or economic implications.
Weak labelling and traceability regulations can leave gaps where economic fraud, Illegal, Unregulated, Unreported (IUU) seafood, and labour abuses can enter the supply chain.
Economic fraud can happen anywhere along the supply chain, and occurs primarily when one type of fish is purposely mislabelled and sold as something of higher value.
Mislabelled species, whether intentional or not, can also have serious health implications if the consumer has specific sensitivities, is pregnant, or if the substituted species is unsafe for human consumption. IUU fisheries undermine legal catches, deplete species at an unknown rate, and can be hotbeds for labour abuses and social issues.
Traceability, therefore, ensures that the product information and label is accurate and accompanies the seafood product from harvest to plate. More businesses and consumers are demanding traceable seafood products with details about their origin, to ensure the product meets their standards.
100+
species can be represented by the common name “rockfish”
58%
of retail rockfish samples across Canada were mislabelled
Only 1-2
elements required on Canadian seafood labels (6 elements required on EU seafood labels)
