When fish and seafood arrive on supermarket shelves, they have been through a series of intermediaries where there is no record to keep track of them. This is transferred to consumers who are unaware of where the product they are buying comes from.
In the absence of information, it is unknown if the fishery from which the species comes will recover, if it was caught in a permitted place and fishing gear, if the labor rights of those who made the catch were respected and, even, if it is really the species being said or a variant.
Having a record that avoids ignorance is known as “traceability” and contributes to the sustainability of the seas in the face of problems such as illegality or overfishing.
In Mexico, there is a battle for fisheries sustainability with the common objective that more than 200,000 people in the country linked to fishing keep their jobs and keep fish schools for the future. A possible scenario if the current overexploitation is reduced, which is around 17% of the fisheries in Mexico, while 70% are at the limit, according to official data.
A traceability standard is currently being promoted to improve the information system and to ensure that the documentation accompanies the product from the moment it is captured until its commercialization. There is a draft in the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (Conapesca) that is under arrest despite an urge from the Senate of the Republic for the institution to make progress in this regard.
Meanwhile, challenges continue across the value chain.
Cod what is a shark
Among the many problems caused by the lack of traceability, one of the most studied is the replacement of fish and seafood. According to the report “GatoxLiebre: Fraud Detectives”, prepared based on samples taken by the organization Oceana México, there is between 31% and 37% of product substitution in fish stores, supermarkets and restaurants in Mexico City and Mérida.
Cases have been identified of blacktip sharks, graceful sharks and blue sharks that are traded as dogs or cod. The same applies to the huachinango, replaced by catfish, a species with an economic value that can be up to three times lower.
Of the substitution rates, it is detected that 40% of restaurants engage in this practice; 54% of fishmongers on average, and 11% of supermarkets
In addition, substitution is the gateway to illegal fishing. “Since it is not really known which species is being marketed, there is no certainty that it was caught under the protection of a permit, following management and conservation regulations such as respect for closed periods, minimum sizes, maximum volumes allowed or respect for areas where fishing is prohibited,” the report states.
For Mariana Aziz, director of transparency campaigns at Oceana Mexico, establishing a traceability system can contribute to having a “minimum floor” for the actors involved in the value chain.
The organization has been the main one in promoting the traceability standard to have a system that allows information to be verifiable to determine the legal origin, quality and veracity of the product.
Although the fishing sector has also developed voluntary programs to improve traceability, experts agree that these must be pushed by the government.
“I don't think it's something that should be left to the fishing sector because there are issues of public interest involved, it's a way to prevent illegal fishing from reaching the markets, to ensure that the consumer is buying good quality products that respect conservation standards. For everything that can go wrong, it's important to ensure that you're doing it the right way,” Aziz explained.
The alternatives
In the absence of a traceability standard, alternatives for consumers are small but not impossible. Currently, there are labels on fish and seafood to identify that a product comes from a fishery with sustainable practices such as that of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), an international non-profit organization.
“Our seal, what we call 'the eco-label' or 'the blue seal', means that this product already comes from a fishery that has been certified and that the entire supply chain is also certified,” explained Andrea Talantes, Communications Manager at MSC in Latin America.
According to Talantes, in order to certify a fishery and address the problem of overfishing, there are two standards: fisheries and chain of custody.
The fisheries standard is based on three principles: fish stock health, environmental impact, and the third is fisheries management. While the chain of custody standard ranges from capture to sale to the consumer and is based on five principles: that it comes from a certified fishery; that it has a product identification system; that it does not mix with non-certified products; that it is traceable; and that the company meets all requirements.
In these procedures and the monitoring received by certified companies, evaluations are carried out by an independent auditor.
Internationally, there are more than 20,000 products in approximately 66 countries with the MSC ecolabel, according to figures from the organization. In Mexico, some of the certified fisheries are the Crinuda and Monterrey sardine species in the Gulf of California and the red lobster in Baja California Sur.
“What the consumer knows when they see this label on the products is that it comes from a fishery that has been certified as sustainable, that is wild-caught, that has been handled with caution throughout this supply chain and that it has been kept separate from products that do not contain the certification,” Talantes said.
This is relevant given the need for consumers to also take and demand measures to protect marine resources and support fisheries that are implementing sustainable practices.
*This note is part of series #PescadoenelSupermercado, which reports on the standards of fisheries sustainability in the Mexican market.
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