RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Marketplace Shrimp Mislabeling in North Carolina
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 734376
DO 10.1101/734376
A1 Morgan L. Korzik
A1 Hannah M. Austin
A1 Brittany Cooper
A1 Caroline Jasperse
A1 Grace Tan
A1 Emilie Richards
A1 Erin T. Spencer
A1 Blaire Steinwand
A1 F. Joel Fodrie
A1 John F. Bruno
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/08/13/734376.abstract
AB Seafood mislabeling occurs in a wide range of seafood products worldwide, resulting in public distrust, economic fraud, and health risks for consumers. We quantified the extent of shrimp mislabeling in coastal and inland North Carolina. We used standard DNA barcoding procedures to determine the species identity of 106 shrimp sold by 60 vendors across North Carolina as “local” shrimp. Thirty-four percent of the purchased shrimp was mislabeled, and surprisingly the percentage did not differ significantly between coastal and inland counties. Roughly one third of product fraudulently marketed as “local” was in fact whiteleg shrimp: an imported, and very likely farmed, species from the eastern Pacific (and not found in North Carolina waters). In addition to the negative ecosystem consequences of shrimp farming (e.g., the loss of mangroves forests and the coastal buffering they provide) and seafood importation, North Carolina fishers— as with local fishers elsewhere—are negatively impacted when vendors label farmed, frozen, and imported shrimp as local, fresh, and wild-caught.