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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access published online on August 30, 2009
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil, doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsp222
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© 2009 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Misleading the masses: detection of mislabelled and substituted frozen fish products in South Africa

Sophie von der Heyden1, Jaco Barendse2, Anthony J. Seebregts3 and Conrad A. Matthee1

1 Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
2 WWF South Africa, Millenia Park, 16 Stellentia Avenue, Stellenbosch, Private Bag X2, Die Boord 7613, South Africa
3 iVeri Payment Technology, Suite 352, Private Bag X9, Benmore 2010, South Africa

Correspondence to S. von der Heyden: tel: +27 21 8083229; fax: +27 21 8082405; e-mail: svdh{at}sun.ac.za.

von der Heyden, S., Barendse, J., Seebregts, A. J., and Matthee, C. A. 2010. Misleading the masses: detection of mislabelled and substituted frozen fish products in South Africa. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 000–000.

Mislabelling poses a threat to the sustainability of seafood supply chains and, when frequent, can significantly affect conservation efforts. Here we identify the most popular fish in the South African market through consumer and retailer surveys and data gathered by a sustainable seafood campaign. Of these species, we tested a number of widely available and generally high-market priced fish, utilizing mtDNA 16S rRNA sequencing. Tests of 178 samples revealed that about half of all fillets are mislabelled. Most problematic was kob, Argyrosomus spp., for which some 84% of fillets provided belonged to other species, including mackerel, croaker, and warehou. Phylogenetic analyses provided strong support that the fillets sold as barracuda and wahoo were probably king mackerel and that red snapper fillets included fillets of river snapper, Lutjanus argentimaculatus, which is a species prohibited for sale in South Africa. We also discovered substitution of yellowtail for dorado. From preliminary population genetic comparisons, some 30% of kingklip samples probably had their origin in New Zealand, rather than southern Africa. The research revealed a market conducive to mislabelling through poor consumer and retailer awareness, and highlighted the value of sustainable seafood campaigns to draw attention to this.

Keywords: consumer awareness, mislabelling, molecular identification, seafood, sustainable seafood campaign, traceability

Received 28 April 2009; accepted 23 June 2009.


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