Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 170

PART 3 HIGHLIGHTS OF ONGOING STUDIES
chain. More specific studies (among many) found
mislabelling of 75 percent of red snapper in the
United States of America (Marko et al., 2004); 41
percent of fish at retail level in Canada (Hanner
et al., 2011); and 43 percent of fillets in southern
Italy (Tantillo et al., 2015).
harmonizing legal frameworks with W TO
requirements and basing them on Codex
standards, g uidelines and related texts, which
constitute the benchmark for food safet y at the
international level.
Fish fraud
Although many fish fraud incidents do not pose
an immediate risk to public health, some cases
have resulted in actual or potential harm to
consumers’ health. When toxic species, such as
pufferfishes, histamine-contaminated scombroid
fish, escolar, oilfish or cig uatoxic fish, are
substituted for non-toxic species, the consumer is
unaware of the potential dangers. Unexpected
exposure to veterinar y drug residues can also
pose a public health risk when farmed fish with
excessive residue levels are sold as wild species.
Food fraud, while not a new phenomenon, has
come under the spotlight in recent years. A
multicountr y horsemeat scandal in the European
Union in 2013 exposed the v ulnerabilit y of the
international food chain to organized crime.
National, regional and international food fraud
networks and platforms, such as the European
Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation
(EUROPOL), have been established for sharing
information and fostering cooperation to combat
food fraud. Food fraud is committed when food is
illegally placed on the market with the intention
of deceiving the customer, usually for financial
gain, and involves criminal activit y that can
include mislabelling, substitution, counterfeiting,
misbranding, dilution and adulteration. Fish
fraud is no different.
When fish is processed, for example into fillets,
ready-to-eat products and pre-prepared fish
meals, visual identification to species level is
difficult, if not impossible. However, molecular
identification methods, such as DNA barcoding,
can now definitively identif y species, allowing
much greater scrutiny and transparency in fish
marketing. While DNA barcoding is a rapid and
reliable method for identif ying fish species and is
an ideal tool for control purposes, developing
countries may need technical assistance to
integrate it into their food control structures. The
method also needs to be standardized and
accredited before it can be routinely used.
Fish and fish products are particularly at risk of
fraud; the European Parliament (2013) identified
them as the second highest risk categor y of foods,
and INTERPOL/EUROPOL (2016) identified
them as the third highest in a study covering 57
countries. Fish fraud can take place at multiple
points along the fish supply chain. Examples
include intentional mislabelling, species
substitution and overglazing (excess ice) and
undeclared use or overuse of water-binding
agents to increase the weight of products.
An FAO review (Reilly, 2018) suggests the
following mitigating measures that can help
reduce fish fraud: establishing agreed lists of fish
names; setting mandator y labelling requirements;
strengthening official food control systems;
strengthening industr y food safet y management
systems; and developing specific Codex
Alimentarius g uidelines. n
The main problem is species substitution, most
often involving low-value species sold as more
expensive species. Fraud also occurs when species
substitution is used to hide the geographical
origin or to hide an illegally harvested or
protected species or a species from a protected
area. Such activities can bring fishery product
fraud into the domains of IUU fishing and CITES.
SELECTED OCEAN
POLLUTION CONCERNS
Several major studies in recent years have shown
significant amounts of mislabelling (Oceana,
2016; Pardo, Jiménez and Pérez-Villarreal, 2016),
affecting between 20 and 30 percent of fish
sampled, from various parts of the marketing
Ocean pollution caused by marine litter and
microplastics continues to receive a great deal of
international attention. An exponential rise of
public awareness about the issue has stimulated
enhanced scientific research geared to
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