Earlier this month, after the fall out taking place after conservation group Oceana’s latest seafood mislabeling report, Representative Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) and five other Representatives introduced a bill in Congress to protect consumers, fishermen, and the public’s right to know (what they’re eating).

According to the Oceana report, one third of all seafood samples from across the nation were mislabeled. A government report from 2009 estimates that only 2% of seafood imported into the U.S. is inspected and only 0.001% is inspected for fraud. Rep. Markey, whose bill is available as a PDF here, takes issue with these data.

“Fish fraud is a national problem that needs a national solution. This bill finally tells the seafood swindlers and fish fraudsters that we will protect America’s fishermen and consumers from Massachusetts to Alaska”… “From tackle to table, this bill makes the entire seafood supply chain more transparent and trustworthy.” – Rep. Markey Press Release (3/6/13)

Originally introduced to Congress as the SAFE Seafood Act, this new iteration of the bill, the Safety and Fraud Enforcement for Seafood Act of 2013 (H.R. 1012) aims to close the door on fraudulent practices “that cheat fishermen and consumers, while posing health risks to pregnant mothers and others” (see, Press Statement).

Viking Village – Barnegat Light, NJ; Wild-Caught, Product of the USA (Photo: S. Dixon).

Specifically, the SAFE Seafood bill is broken down into a few main themes:

1. Cooperation. The bill mandates that federal agencies cooperate more on seafood inspections, and urges that those inspections focus on fraudulent labels as often as health standards. Also, the number of inspectors could rise, as the bill provides for more federal, state, and local authorities.
2. Transparency. Fishermen collect a ton of data (e.g., gear type used, location fish was caught, species, etc.) that should stay with the fish – from processing to final sale. This bill would require that transparency, for fish caught in the U.S. or abroad.
3. Lists. Who doesn’t like lists? This bill would require a list (to be posted online) of anyone – in the U.S. or abroad – who violates the bill; an expanded list of standardized fish names; and a list of market names for those fish. Education is key – lists of the bad actors of seafood fraud should help solve part of the problem.

This new label law seems aimed at the border – making sure that what comes in to the country is what is says it is (and perhaps is from where it says it’s from), likely helping commercial fishermen in the U.S. who already have transparent, cooperative, and clear operations. Overall, there is a long way to go for fighting fish fraud – and protecting the fishing economy and public health – and this labeling law seems to be a good first step: more international inspection, more public education, and more uniformity among wholesalers.

Recently highlighted in a great Ocean Views post by Brian Howard, an Atlantic article, and the New York Times, a report by ocean advocacy organization Oceana once again exposed a fatal flaw in the U.S.’s seafood economy: mislabeling.

Labels

In the world of seafood, mislabeling generally means one of two things:

First, it could mean that the label details are wrong – perhaps the method of capture (trawler or longliner) was misstated, or perhaps whether the fish was farm-raised or wild-caught.

Second, it could mean that the label says the fish is one species when it is really another (serving fluke when the label says halibut).

Mislabel: verb (used with object) – to label wrongly, incorrectly, or misleadingly.

According to the Oceana report, which focused on the latter form of mislabeling (putting the wrong name on a label – not just confusing the catch details), one-third of all seafood was mislabeled. For some species, this rate is even higher – Oceana notes that “only seven of the 120 samples of red snapper purchased nationwide were actually red snapper.”

This nation-wide assessment was an eye-opening look at the state of seafood sales. News of the report crisscrossed the blogosphere, most of the nation’s print media, and broadcast outlets along the coasts.

Seafood on sale in Hong Kong, without labels of any kind (Photo: S. Dixon)

To counter this grim outlook, consumers have a simple, nascent, and, in the right places, accessible solution: local fisheries.

Local

Here at Village Fishmonger NYC, a New York City-based community supported fishery (a “CSF”) , we wondered how our city fared.

In NYC, Oceana noted that “over 94% of tuna and more than three quarters of sushi samples” were mislabeled. Importantly, “Small markets had appreciably higher fraud levels (40 percent) than national grocery store chains (12 percent),” which disturbed the Oceana research team because “of how many New Yorkers rely on their neighborhood markets to buy their groceries.”

According to Oceana, seafood should be traceable (the fish’s landed data – including name, date, location – should follow that fish), labels should be thoroughly detailed, and more enforcement needs to happen nationwide – laudable goals for any food system.

Local fisheries and connections to local fishermen go a long way to achieving these goals. If you’re buying direct from a fisherman (through a local CSF or at a green market):

1. …you’ll often only get what’s fresh and in season;
2. …you’re likely going to be able to talk to the fisherman directly about the fish, avoiding the need to rely on label details like method of capture;
3. …you’re cutting out several steps of the supply chain, and avoiding any imported seafood – avoiding many of the problem areas that Oceana says lead to mislabeling in the first place; and
4. …you’re helping a local fisherman sell at (most likely) a higher price per pound than a haul would get on the open market, where each pound of local seafood is competing against mislabeled fish from around the world – which encourages the fishermen to bring more catch direct-to-consumer.

In short, you’re avoiding the pitfalls of big-business seafood.

A Village Fishmonger CSF share – 2 lbs of Golden Tilefish labeled with dock name and location caught. Village Fishmonger NYC emails to members each week also highlight the boat and captain who caught the fish. (Photo: S. Dixon).

Mislabeling, Oceana also notes, can be potentially unsafe for consumer health.  For example, in NYC, Oceana noted that “one of the most egregious swaps” occurred – tilefish was sold as red snapper.  This concerns Oceana because tilefish are potentially high in mercury, and therefore some people shouldn’t eat it.  This is an entirely valid point – if something is dangerous, consumers should know what they’re ordering.

Again, local seafood to the rescue!

In the Mid Atlantic Ocean, unlike the Gulf of Mexico or the South Atlantic, tilefish do not present a mercury risk (see NOAA’s Fishwatch.gov Tilefish page).  For New Yorkers, local tilefish (from New Jersey and New York docks) is safe to eat – no matter what it’s called.

Labels or Local?

What’s the take-home message from this “Label-gate”? Do we fight for better label systems – with barcodes and international databases – or return to local, trustworthy fisheries?  Both.

For now, big-box retailers won’t be able to cut out all middlemen, nor sell only fresh, whole fish from local oceans – or at least they’re not  all trying to.  For those markets, traceability and accountability are required to protect the value of our fishermen’s catch and the U.S. consumer’s health.  This latest expose does a great job of highlighting this fact.

In the interim, however, buying local seafood can help consumers hedge their bets, and more likely end up with a safe, properly described, product.

No one benefits from a mislabeled fish – not the fishermen, not the consumer, and not the fish.  Until a system is in place to help you know for sure you’re not  leaving dinner subject to the whims of the fishy side of fishmongering, be a savvy seafood consumer and  stick to local, fresh fish from sources you trust.

I recently sat down with Village Fishmonger’s resident fishmonger, Ben Smallman, to get his take on seafood and why he loves what he does.  He’s currently working as a tournant at Danny Meyer’s The Modern restaurant in Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).

Village Fishmonger: Why do you like to work with fish and seafood?  What attracted you to working with Village Fishmonger?

Ben: I like working with seafood because it’s one of the most delicate items in a kitchen, from receiving and storage, to butchering and then cooking, everything has to be done just right. If you don’t do all the little things right you’re wasting an opportunity with a not inexpensive ingredient. Plus, I love to eat seafood and enjoy the opportunity to share that with others.

I was attracted to working with Village Fishmonger because it was an opportunity to work with fresh, high quality fish in an environment where the focus was on sustainable and local fish. Luckily, the schedules worked out so that I could continue my current trajectory with The Modern and supplement that with working at Village Fishmonger.

VF: Why is sustainability important?  And how important is it to you as a chef?

Ben: I believe sustainability is an extremely important issue in the foodservice industry today. If we’re going to take anything from the Earth we must do it in a responsible way that doesn’t negatively impact future food stocks and the environment.  Being thoughtful about the environmental implications of getting fish to the table will ensure that future generations of both chefs and consumers have access to the ingredients that we love to cook with and/or eat.

VF: What’s your experience been with seeing “sustainability” as a general ethos in the restaurants you’ve worked in? (i.e., nose to tail eating, local ingredients)

Ben: Sustainability in the restaurant world is a touchy subject.  Most restaurants strive to serve the best food possible, but depending on the cuisine or chef’s philosophy, that desire can be at odds with the customer whose expectation may be that the ingredients were sourced locally and harvested in a certain manner. For example, some restaurants I’ve worked at in the Hudson Valley would specifically source vegetables and produce from local farms, but would then order their fish from thousands of miles away in order to get what they felt was a superior product. It’s a good start and better than getting everything from a distance, but salmon from Alaska served with asparagus from the farm down the road is not a local dish. And though many of the “best” ingredients are not available locally or from a sustainable source, such as prosciutto di Parma or truffles, if a restaurant is going to advertise that their menu is local and sustainable then they should strive to align their sourcing with that ethos.

VF: Do you think that restaurants are moving forward in this regard at all, towards serving local and sustainable fish and other products on their menus and are there potential pitfalls?

Ben: There are so many factors that go into translating ingredients to a menu.  The type of restaurant, its chef, the owners, the ingredients available to them locally, the price of the ingredients, the overall cost of the dish and where it is on the menu, and on and on, are all considerations.  And not all restaurants have a philosophy that supports local sourcing — try to find a high-end sushi restaurant that doesn’t get uni shipped in from Hokkaido when it is in season!  But I like to think as awareness increases restaurants will attempt to be more responsible and I’ves een that trend happening, so hopefully it will continue.

VF: What do you think about the idea of consumers “voting” with their dollars when it comes to food choices, whether it’s in restaurants or participating in programs such as our CSF?

Ben: As a chef, you should have your own opinion in terms of your cuisine and food philosophy, but you should be open to what your customers find important, and hopefully balance those sides accordingly.  Sustainability is becoming a more important aspect of dining out for some customers so it should be top of mind for those involved in the food industry.  As far as joining a CSF such as Village Fishmonger, I think it’s a great idea for anyone who likes to cook and can fit it into their schedule. You’ll be encouraged to try new fish – some that are hard to find in your market and even harder to find from local sources that use responsible catch methods. And because they need to stay abreast of current sustainability issues, they can help make you more aware of certain issues and provide information you might want to make your own decisions. How many times have you gone to a grocery store and been able to know when that fish was caught, and find out it was only hours ago, and be able to find out the names of the boats and fishermen involved?

VF: Do you have any words of wisdom for the home cook who is just learning to cook seafood?

Ben: Some fish needs to be cooked all the way through, though most fish should not undergo such torture.  Don’t be afraid of eating certain fish “medium-rare” – to cook a scallop or steak of tuna all the way through is to not use the life that was given by those animals to its full potential. Also learn to temper your fish – though you should always store fish at lower than 40 degrees in your refrigerator, having the fish out about 20 minutes in room temperature before cooking will yield a much better result after cooking.  And you should always season your fish on both sides before cooking. But most importantly, experiment!  You won’t learn new things or grow as a cook if you stay in your comfort zone forever, and a bad experiment is still a fun evening in the kitchen with someone close to you.

VF: What’s a great recipe for home cooks to make this time of year using sustainable ingredients?

Ben: It’s a great time of year for bay scallops, which we’re currently offering as a special that changes every two to three days at The Modern. Recently, we’ve accompanied the bay scallops with risotto finished with squid ink, topped by some sautéed butternut squash and fresh Hudson Valley mushrooms.  The bay scallops are simply cooked, seasoned with salt and pepper, seared with butter and thyme and then placed on top of the risotto. This is a quick easy, local and in season dish that any home cook could tackle.

VF: What’s the weirdest fin-to-scale dish that you’ve ever made?

Ben: While working for Chef Jason Wood in Garrison, NY we once did a tasting menu where one course was oil poached tuna spine. The bone marrow from large fish like tuna becomes almost a gelée of fish when cooked properly, then garnished with some capers, parsley, lemon zest and chili oil, becomes quite tasty.

Check out Ben’s swordfish fishmongering skills in a video blog post.

Now, with more news from the coastal zone trickling out, there’s more that consumers can do.

Shellfish

Village Fishmonger NYC works with fishermen in the tri-state area [New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut]; the hardest hit docks and shellfisheries (in New Jersey) have suffered significant losses.  Our latest intelligence indicates that nearly all New Jersey shellfish hatcheries have sustained damage; two of the largest have near-100% loss in infrastructure.

Devastated Hatchery on the Shore. Photo by Jackie Rush.

There is good news for many of these baymen and shellfisheries – while Hurricane Sandy’s waves, storm surges, and winds decimated docks, hatchery houses, power lines, and boats, early signs point to safe and secure clam and oyster beds.  Rising sea waters during the storm insulated most of the clams and oysters from the worst of the storm’s effects.  As such, we’re hopeful that once these aquaculture and shellfishery operations get their docks and processing facilities rebuilt, the fishery will bounce back!

Fin Fish

For the finfisheries, many coastal New Jersey and New York docks also sustained heavy damage, especially to processing and shipping facilities.  Even the operations that survived relatively unscathed are being impacted by the loss of power, difficult-to-find fuel, and inaccessibility of nearby urban markets.  To make matters worse, many docks are in areas with travel restrictions and no power – making it impossible to even start bringing in supplies for rebuilding.

New Jersey’s commercial fishermen landed and processed seafood valued at almost $200 million dollars at the dock in 2011. These landings generated more than $1 billion dollars in economic activity for the state, so the immediate and long-term effects of the storm will have major impacts on local economies.

Just this week, the Garden State Seafood Association (GSSA), which represents the interests of most New Jersey commercial fishermen, asked Governor Chris Christie to declare a fishery disaster – a move that would free up significant federal funds for rebuilding.

How To Help

Overall, we suggest you buy local – fish, produce, beverages, and fashion.

Fish.  Perhaps the best way to help coastal fisheries is to boost the demand for their products.  When out at restaurants in storm-ravaged areas, ask for local fish and that day’s catch.  Also, check out community supported fisheries (like ours!), where you can order for a few months’ fish in advance – a move that can (depending on the CSF) result in the fishermen getting more capital to start repairs with. Find out more about CSFs here, and search for CSFs near you here.

Produce, Beverages, Fashion. With Thanksgiving coming up, besides the traditional turkey, think about adding seafood to the mix so that the very act of getting together for a meal with family and friends can be a regenerative gesture for whole communities.  Along those lines, look for local farm-to-table CSAs (community supported agriculture) near you, where you can get farm-fresh veggies.  Also, spending money at local craft breweries and wineries in storm-torn regions will directly send funds to those that need it most (and help support new small businesses).  Finally, there are fashion options – t-shirt companies and clothing sites that are giving proceeds to local communities.

We ask you to please take a moment to think about how you might contribute to these local businesses and communities in the upcoming weeks and months. Donations to The Red Cross and The Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties are a good place to start for overall aid to the areas affected by Sandy.

Maxwell's Infrastructure Damage. Photo by Kim Maxwell

Jersey Shore Damage from Hurricane Sandy. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen

Our local oceans, fisheries, and fishermen are intricately connected to hurricanes and other disasters.  Vital friends and sources of fish for NY’s Village Fishmonger CSF network, docks like Viking Village (on Long Beach Island, NJ) and shellfishermen like Parson’s Seafood and Maxwell’s (around Great Bay, NJ) were directly hit by Hurricane Sandy.  As of this writing, we’re unsure of how these fishermen have fared.  After generations of fishing, we’re hoping that all members of those communities have been spared the worst of the storm and are safe and secure.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, thousands will be without homes, businesses along the Jersey Shore and the South Shore of Long Island will be rebuilding for months, and the public health, safety, environmental, and economic problems will take even longer to sort out.  Fishermen, as you might imagine, are significantly affected by hurricanes.

Shellfish, finfish, and the people that harvest both, are regularly devastated by hurricanes, though rarely in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean.  According to a 2007 NOAA report, “because oysters require two or more years to grow to marketable size, full recovery from these hurricanes may take years, and some oyster habitats may be lost permanently.”  After Hurricane Katrina, 90% of Mississippi’s oyster beds were lost, and 74% of Louisiana’s were destroyed – sediment and debris covering oysters can easily suffocate the bivalve.

Also impacted by Gulf of Mexico hurricanes were artificial reefs (90% loss in Mississippi), barrier islands (15% land area loss in Mississippi, 100-foot retreat in Texas), and corals, sea grass beds, and marshes.  Together, these impacts significantly impact fish by destroying or dramatically changing the habitats fish and shellfish need to survive over the long term.

As for the fishermen themselves, storms like Hurricane Sandy put everything at risk.  Before storms like this hit, fishermen are already living on the edge economically – gas prices and high costs of coastal properties keep margins low.  In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, gas prices are going up even more, and dock repairs, boat repairs, infrastructure repairs (fixing ice machines, cargo equipment, etc.), and replacing lost raw materials (bait, packaging supplies, spare line and nets), all add up.

Here in the U.S., there are two federal avenues for fishery disaster relief – the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (IFA) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).

In disaster response, under both statutes, fishery resource disasters can “include both the fish themselves and fishing” – either “a sudden and unexpected large decrease in fish stock biomass or other event that results in the loss of essentially all access to the fishery resource, such as loss of fishing vessels and gear, for a substantial period of time in a specific area.”  As such, natural disasters like hurricanes, which lead to the loss of access (through inaccessible ports, destroyed equipment and infrastructure, etc., count as fishery disasters.

Under the MSA, “at the discretion of the Secretary or at the request of the Governor of an affected State or a fishing community, the Secretary shall determine whether there is a commercial fishery failure due to a fishery resource disaster as a result of…natural causes, … man-made causes, … or undetermined causes.”  Interestingly, before any funds can be distributed for disaster relief, the Secretary of Commerce must show that funded restoration projects will not lead to an increase in fishing capacity (as compared to pre-disaster).

Both the IFA and the MSA give the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) broad latitude for allocating funds – they can be sent to states or to fishermen, can be used for restoring damaged fisheries, or can even be used to ensure that similar disasters don’t occur in the future.  Similarly, both statutory funds are capped at 75% of project costs, meaning fishermen or the states must supply some of the fishery restoration costs themselves.

Funds dispersed for disaster relief, according to a 2011 federal policy document that governs fishery disaster implementation, can be broadly used, and the disaster declaration itself can lead to a variety of other avenues for relief.  For example, once a disaster is declared, “fishing related businesses may qualify for certain Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, which can, in certain cases, help address economic injury and physical damage.”  In addressing community-wide impacts (like when a hurricane decimates more than just the fishery resource), “assistance…may include developing and improving infrastructure or retraining, with the ultimate goal of making such areas less dependent on a specific fishery or on fishing in general, [or] job retraining programs…”

To date, there have been 50 declared fishery disasters (under either law).  In the Mid-Atlantic Region (hit hard by Hurricane Sandy), only a few disasters have been declared (the 2008 NY Hard Clam fishery, 2008 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab,  1999 North Carolina Fisheries, and the 1999 Long Island Sound Lobster Fishery).

The 1999 North Carolina disaster declaration, according to the Press Release from the Department of Commerce, was a direct response to Hurricanes Floyd and Dennis.  As the Commerce Secretary notes, “We can’t keep Mother Nature from disrupting commerce…but we can do our part to help those fishermen who face economic ruin due to her actions.”

Wave hitting a fisherman on a longliner. Photo by Sean Dixon

After we’ve done what we can to help local fishermen, we should start thinking about how fisheries and healthy coastlines can help prevent future disasters like Hurricane Sandy.  As Paul Greenberg recently wrote in the New York Times, oysters can form beds along coastlines, forming undulations and contours on the harbor bottom that breaks up wave action – protecting places like low-lying barrier islands or parks from the worst of a storm’s power (around the NY/NJ region, these oyster beds are just starting to make a comeback).

The 2007 NOAA Fishery Disaster Report also notes that “Coastal habitats (i.e., barrier islands and shorelines, coral reefs, nearshore artificial reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, oyster reefs, and emergent intertidal wetlands) also contribute to the coastal ecosystem by absorbing energy from storms and hurricanes, thereby protecting more landward habitats, coastal communities, and infrastructure vital to the Nation.”

The price of Hurricane Sandy will not likely be known for some time – homes, businesses, beaches, boardwalks, and lives, have been destroyed.  Fisheries and the fishermen are one part of this picture, and we hope they’re safe and secure. As for rebuilding our homes, our fisheries and our ecosystems, it will take time, but the communities and families of the region’s fisheries are strong and resilient, so we’re confident the fisheries will be back.

To paraphrase Douglas Adams’s Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, “You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is” (Mr. Adams was actually referring to the universe, but seeing as we can swim, dive, and fish in the ocean, but – unless we’ve missed something – one cannot yet have that kind of fun in space, we’ve redirected the quote’s meaning).

Any small corner of a small part of a small section of the global ocean (e.g., the U.S.’s Mid-Atlantic Bight) can have hundreds of species of fish, and hundreds of species of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and bacteria living in and around it – depending on its bounty.

Village Fishmonger at the Hester Nights Festival

Compared to the planet’s landmasses, the oceans are significantly more huge; Arthur C. Clarke famously (and we think accurately) noted “How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.”  On land, species are constrained to tall trees and deep caves – added all up, it’s a very small space (called “livable volume”).  Animals of all stripes live throughout the ocean, from the coastal estuaries to the deepest trenches – the 3-D ecosystem that far outmatches land’s relative 2-D-ness.

Despite this oceanic hugeness, the oceans are local – they are your backyard; they dictate the weather in your city; they generate half of the air you breathe.  The oceans are also a significant source of food.

In our neck of the woods, the aforementioned Mid-Atlantic Ocean – and, specifically, the waters around New York City – provides food for millions.  Several hundred years of commercial and recreational fishing out of the ports of New England, New Jersey, New York and points south have brought seafood from clams and scallops to swordfish and black sea bass to markets all along the coastline.

Historic New York City was full of fish markets.  Fishmongers were shucking clams and slicing bluefish along the Battery and Brooklyn waterfronts – providing the people of the City with fresh, local seafood.  But over the years, as property values and development increased, the fishmongers were pushed farther and farther afield, and locally sourced seafood options became less and less accessible.

Now, as you’ve undoubtedly read here, here, and last week in the New York Times, across the nation Community Supported Fisheries (or community sourced fisheries…more on that next week) are growing in popularity.  The way it works is like Netflix – members sign up for a few months in advance, and they receive local, responsibly harvested seafood each week.  The dock’s daily landings determine what fish are delivered, meaning that we’re not creating a market for any one species, we’re making use of all of the seas’ bounty.

Here in NYC, we’ve formed Village Fishmonger and the Village Fishmonger CSF to bring local, responsibly harvested seafood from the docks, ports, and fishermen from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to the consumers of NYC.

We’ll be blogging here regularly (aiming for once a week), to create a forum for discussions about local fisheries, urban economies, and the future of fish. Check us out online, share your thoughts below, or contact us to chat more on these issues!

Best Fishes,

Village Fishmonger