| But
whatever happens, the regulation will take effect as scheduled.
So the seafood industry has been making best-guess decisions
based on an interim rule that was circulated for public
comment last year.
Based
on that version, labeling is likely to apply only to fish
sold in supermarkets. Stand-alone seafood stores are exempt,
as are restaurants.
It
also doesn't apply to canned or smoked fish, breaded shrimp
or the shaped fish paste often sold as imitation crab and
labeled as surimi. And it isn't likely to apply to fish
used as an ingredient in a dish, such as bouillabaisse.
Fines
for mislabeling can go as high as $10,000 for a violation.
Ensuring
'very best value'
The
law "will help consumers receive the very best value for
their purchase and help preserve a salty way of life that
defines entire communities throughout the Gulf Coast and
Eastern Seaboard," says a statement by Wild American Shrimp,
which promotes U.S.-raised shrimp. The group estimates that
85% of all the shrimp sold in the USA comes from overseas.
The
labeling also is crucial in helping to track outbreaks of
food-borne illness, says Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center
for Science in the Public Interest, who notes that 80% of
seafood consumed in the USA comes from overseas.
But
retail and wholesale organizations, such as the Fisheries
Institute and the Food Marketing Institute, which represents
the retail and wholesale food industry, consider the regulations
essentially to be mandatory marketing.
"It
has nothing to do with food safety," Candler says. "It's
going to be a very expensive experiment. The record-keeping
requirements are onerous."
Urvashi
Rangan of Consumers Union, a consumer advocacy group and
publisher of Consumer Reports , agrees that there's
nothing different about the fish but says labeling can be
empowering for consumers.
For
example, she says, under the new rules a would-be fish buyer
would now be able to tell if the salmon they're getting
is from a fish farm or the wild.
"So
if you have information that it was caught in Alaska, you
can actually make some intelligent purchasing decisions
if you want to avoid PCB contamination, because the Atlantic
waters tend to be pretty ubiquitously contaminated."
Given
the often globe-swimming ways of some fish species, the
question of exactly where a given fish comes from is a little
complicated.
Under
the interim rules, a fish caught on the high seas by a U.S.
flag vessel will count as American, while those caught by
ships out of other countries will come under those nations'
flags. |
