Tough labelling policies are combating fish fraud in Europe according to Labelfish

Tough new policies to combat fish fraud in Europe are working, says a new study.

The largest-ever multi-species survey of fish-labelling indicates a marked, sudden reduction of seafood mislabelling in supermarkets, markets and fishmongers in the EU.

Scientists in six European countries tracked samples of the most commonly consumed fish, including cod, tuna, hake and plaice, after a series of studies dating back five years had shown mislabelling in up to 40% of cases.

Transparent seafood supply chains may lead to more sustainable exploitation and healthier oceans.

The study is part of the Labelfish project, supported by the EU Atlantic Area Programme and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Co-author, Dr Andrew Griffiths, from the University of Exeter, said: “I am very pleased with these results, as they show that consumers can have more confidence in the accuracy of seafood labelling.

"They are also surprising, as previous investigations detected much higher levels of mislabelling.

"It highlights just how seriously this problem is being addressed within the EU.”

The international collaboration genetically tested seafood sold in supermarkets, traditional markets and fishmongers in 19 European cities, between 2013 and 2014, including Cardiff, Glasgow, Plymouth and Manchester, Dublin, Madrid, Marseille, Lisbon and Hamburg.

Species verification was carried out on fresh, frozen and tinned products labelled as cod, tuna, haddock, plaice, sole, swordfish, anchovy, hake and monkfish.

Of the 1,563 DNA sequence samples examined, just 77 (4.9%) were mislabelled.

Most commonly mislabelled were anchovy (15.5%), hake (11.1%) and tuna (6.8%).

Only 3.5% of cod, and 3% of haddock, were mislabelled.

None of the monkfish, plaice or swordfish samples were substituted with other species.

The study found little or no difference in tinned, fresh or frozen products and no country-associated trends.

Spain had the highest rate of incorrect labelling (8.9%), followed by Portugal (6.7%), Germany (6.2%), Ireland (3.9%), the UK (3.3%) and France (2.7%).

The “turnaround” is due to transnational legislation and new regulation.