Rule #1 when purchasing seafood: know your source. As with any exchange where quality matters, it pays to do a little research, and to establish trustworthy relationships with your fishmongers. Case in point - a man in Bellevue, Washington, was recently found guilty of purchasing more than 65 tons of turbot from China, and then repackaging the lot and selling it in the US as halibut. While both are tasty members of the flatfish family, turbot average around 30-40 pounds - and halibut can reach 400. Halibut steaks also tend to be somewhat denser than turbot, are fished in Alaskan waters rather than Atlantic or Mediterranean, and fetch a higher price on the market.
A turbot caught in Ireland in 2005, and a halibut caught in the Bering Sea in 2003.
The man in question later wrote an apology that was published in seafood industry magazines, and was forced to donate the profits he’d earned to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. His sentencing is scheduled for February.
In a renewed lawsuit pitting economics against environmental concerns, judges are again being asked to consider whether hatchery-raised fish should be considered identical to wild salmon when counting fish populations. Although a ruling last year declared that they were, in fact, not the same, an Oregon-based business alliance has objected to the decision, claiming that the distinction unfairly lowers salmon counts and unnecessarily disrupts development and commerce in favor of protecting salmon habitat.
Wild salmon and hatchery-raised salmon are genetically similar, environmentalists counter, but wild salmon have adapted behaviors that contribute to much greater survival numbers in natural habitat, as opposed to the higher death rates of hatchery fish released into the wild. 16 salmon and steelhead species are listed as endangered in the Pacific Northwest, and their habitats are protected and managed under the Endangered Species Act. Fishermen and conservation groups argue that including human-raised fish in wild fish counts leads to an inaccurate portrait of fish stocks, and thus irresponsible management of their waters.
An estimated 137 other species depend upon the health and stability of wild salmon stocks for their own ecological survival.
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