Popular Science - USA (2020 - Winter)

FROM LEFT: Fishing

co-op president Andrés

Grajeda Coronado. A

statue of Coronado’s

great-grandfather, one

of the first anglers in the

area. A fishing town nes-

tled in the mountains.

LANDING A LIFELINE

prevalent off the coasts of Russia and West Africa and

in the South Indian Ocean and the equatorial Pacific

Ocean.) In effect, they’re laundering the catch.

Because all fish looks more or less the same once it

reaches the shelf, it’s easy to hide ill-gotten goods. Even

a fillet marked “wild caught” at the grocer might not

be what it seems. A 2019 report from nonprofit con-

servation organization Oceana DNA tested more than

400 samples from 250 stores across the US and found

that 20 percent of labels misidentified things like spe-

cies and origin. Worse yet, a 2015 investigation by the

Associated Press revealed that some fish on Walmart

and Kroger shelves had been caught by forced labor.

COVID-19 only exacerbated the chance of unsavory

activity. Typically, governments require independent

observers to ride on vessels and verify crew are complying with

regulations that stipulate the amount, size, sex, and species of the

seafood. To avoid transmission of the virus on cramped crafts,

however, many lifted the mandate. Without the usual eyes and

ears on the water, it can be even easier for illicit catches to take

place, says Global Fishing Watch CEO Tony Long. It’s unclear

when observers will resume their duties.

Amid all this, the pressure to adopt traceability technologies

is growing. Large, risk-averse retailers like Walmart and Kroger

have, in the years since the forced labor revelations, begun adopt-

ing increasingly stringent sustainability requirements. “Some

distributors who sold to restaurants are now trying to pivot to

retail,” says Teresa Ish, senior program officer of the Walton

Family Foundation’s environment initiative. The shift creates a

tremendous opportunity for change. And it only increases the

appeal of projects like SmartFish, which are intended not only to

shorten the supply chain but also to demonstrate that consum-

ers show more interest in fish that comes with a story attached.

For their part, home cooks have bolstered retail demand during

the pandemic. Amateur chefs have historically avoided buying

fresh fish because they don’t know how to prepare it, says Martin

Exel, managing director of Seafood Business for Ocean Steward-

ship, a collective of 10 of the world’s top seafood companies as well

as academics. “It’s had a stigma,” he explains.

With time on their hands, however, consumers are getting

more adventurous with their home-dining options. In Maine, for

example, a group of fishermen who’ve adopted sushi-grade han-

dling techniques have been able to secure high-enough prices to

sell pollock and monkfish domestically instead of exporting it.

Niceland Seafoods, a company that specializes in Icelandic im-

ports, sold out of a shipment of wolffish (it’s kind of like catfish)

EVEN A FILLET

MARKED ‘WILD

CAUGHT’ AT THE

GROCER MIGHT

NOT ALWAYS BE

WHAT IT SEEMS.

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