Economy matters: A study of mislabeling in salmon products from two regions, Alaska and Canada (Northwest of America) and Asturias (Northwest of Spain)

Abstract

Mislabeling of seafood species has negative economic, social and ecological consequences, from consumer losses due to fraudulent exchange, undermining consumer awareness, to hiding illegal and unreported catches. Salmonids are no exception. They are an important part of the culture and economy of many countries in the northern hemisphere, and identifying possible causes of salmon mislabeling is of great interest, even more so where wild species and species from aquaculture are consumed. Here different types of commercial unrecognizable salmonid products (111 in total) from Asturias in Northwest Spain (Atlantic Ocean), and Alaska and Vancouver Island in Northwest America (Pacific Ocean) were analyzed by DNA Barcoding. The Spanish and Northwest American samples were mislabeled 6% and 23.8% respectively. Species substitutions were respectively wild-farmed and wild-wild, substitute species being cheaper. Economic reasons and social preference of wild over farmed products seem to be the main drivers in the exchanges detected in this study. Enhancing controls over the unrecognizable products to prevent this type of fraud is essential and strongly recommended.