Congressmen from New England this week introduced a bill intended to prevent fraud in the labeling of seafood and give consumers more information about its origins.
The Safety And Fraud Enforcement for Seafood Act calls for stricter guidelines for tracing seafood from its source and authorizes stiffer penalties for fraudulent labeling.
A number of recent investigations concluded that much of the seafood sold to consumers in this country is mislabeled, with cheaper varieties frequently substituted for more desirable species.
The bill was introduced Wednesday by Massachsuetts Democrat Rep. Ed Markey and co-sponsored by Reps. Barney Frank and Bill Keating. It came as something of a surprise to some fishing industry figures in New Bedford.
Richie Canastra, who co-owns BASE New England, the seafood display auction, said he had not seen the bill but expressed some reservations. "How far do they want to go with this?" he asked. "What's the traceability if I'm eating pork or chicken? Do I get a picture of the chicken?"
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