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Tuna Species Substitution in the Spanish Commercial Chain: A Knock-On Effect

Intentional mislabelling of seafood is a widespread problem, particularly with high-value species like tuna. In this study we examine tuna mislabelling, deliberate species substitution, types of substitution and its impact on prices. The survey covered the commercial chain, from Merca-Barna to fishm...

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Autores principales: Gordoa, Ana, Carreras, Gustavo, Sanz, Nuria, Viñas, Jordi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5268641/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28125686
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170809
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author Gordoa, Ana
Carreras, Gustavo
Sanz, Nuria
Viñas, Jordi
author_facet Gordoa, Ana
Carreras, Gustavo
Sanz, Nuria
Viñas, Jordi
author_sort Gordoa, Ana
collection PubMed
description Intentional mislabelling of seafood is a widespread problem, particularly with high-value species like tuna. In this study we examine tuna mislabelling, deliberate species substitution, types of substitution and its impact on prices. The survey covered the commercial chain, from Merca-Barna to fishmongers and restaurants in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Catalonia. To understand the geographic extent of the problem we also sampled Merca-Madrid, Europe’s biggest fish market, and Merca-Málaga for its proximity to the bluefin tuna migratory route and trap fishery. Monthly surveys were carried out over one year. The results showed a high deficiency in labelling: 75% of points of sale and 83% of restaurants did not specify the species, and in those cases the name of the species had to be asked. A total of 375 samples were analysed genetically, the largest dataset gathered in Europe so far. The identified species were Thunnus albacares, Thunnus thynnus and Thunnus obesus. Species substitution began at suppliers, with 40% of observed cases, increasing to 58% at fishmongers and 62% at restaurants. The substitution was mainly on bluefin tuna (T. thynnus), 73% of cases. At restaurants, only during the bluefin fishing season, we observed a decrease of Bluefin tuna substitution and an increase of reverse substitution revealing some illegal fishing. The effect of species substitution on species prices was relevant: T. obesus increased its price by around €12 kg(-1) when it was sold as bluefin. In view of the deficiency of labelling, the abuse of generic names and the lack of the bluefin catch document, we conclude that the Spanish regulations are ineffective, highlighting the need for policy execution, and the urgent need for information campaigns to Spanish consumers.
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spelling pubmed-52686412017-02-06 Tuna Species Substitution in the Spanish Commercial Chain: A Knock-On Effect Gordoa, Ana Carreras, Gustavo Sanz, Nuria Viñas, Jordi PLoS One Research Article Intentional mislabelling of seafood is a widespread problem, particularly with high-value species like tuna. In this study we examine tuna mislabelling, deliberate species substitution, types of substitution and its impact on prices. The survey covered the commercial chain, from Merca-Barna to fishmongers and restaurants in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Catalonia. To understand the geographic extent of the problem we also sampled Merca-Madrid, Europe’s biggest fish market, and Merca-Málaga for its proximity to the bluefin tuna migratory route and trap fishery. Monthly surveys were carried out over one year. The results showed a high deficiency in labelling: 75% of points of sale and 83% of restaurants did not specify the species, and in those cases the name of the species had to be asked. A total of 375 samples were analysed genetically, the largest dataset gathered in Europe so far. The identified species were Thunnus albacares, Thunnus thynnus and Thunnus obesus. Species substitution began at suppliers, with 40% of observed cases, increasing to 58% at fishmongers and 62% at restaurants. The substitution was mainly on bluefin tuna (T. thynnus), 73% of cases. At restaurants, only during the bluefin fishing season, we observed a decrease of Bluefin tuna substitution and an increase of reverse substitution revealing some illegal fishing. The effect of species substitution on species prices was relevant: T. obesus increased its price by around €12 kg(-1) when it was sold as bluefin. In view of the deficiency of labelling, the abuse of generic names and the lack of the bluefin catch document, we conclude that the Spanish regulations are ineffective, highlighting the need for policy execution, and the urgent need for information campaigns to Spanish consumers. Public Library of Science 2017-01-26 /pmc/articles/PMC5268641/ /pubmed/28125686 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170809 Text en © 2017 Gordoa et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Gordoa, Ana
Carreras, Gustavo
Sanz, Nuria
Viñas, Jordi
Tuna Species Substitution in the Spanish Commercial Chain: A Knock-On Effect
title Tuna Species Substitution in the Spanish Commercial Chain: A Knock-On Effect
title_full Tuna Species Substitution in the Spanish Commercial Chain: A Knock-On Effect
title_fullStr Tuna Species Substitution in the Spanish Commercial Chain: A Knock-On Effect
title_full_unstemmed Tuna Species Substitution in the Spanish Commercial Chain: A Knock-On Effect
title_short Tuna Species Substitution in the Spanish Commercial Chain: A Knock-On Effect
title_sort tuna species substitution in the spanish commercial chain: a knock-on effect
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5268641/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28125686
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170809
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