Seventeen years analysing mislabelling from DNA barcodes: Towards hake sustainability

Blanco-Fernandez, Carmen; García‐Vázquez, Eva; Machado‐Schiaffino, Gonzalo

doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107723

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 61 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Decrease of hake mislabeling seems to be happening in Europe as well, and the increase of the last years found in Blanco-Fernandez et al 7 review would be going down in Spain, since the proportion of mislabeled hake products found here (less than 5%) was low again. A difference with past mislabeling reports was the main substitute species found here, the Benguela hake Merluccius polli , rarely found as a substitute in other studies 7 . This would imply a change in hake substitutes and the unreported introduction of this species in European markets.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fraud in highly appreciated fish detected from DNA in Europe may undermine the Development Goal of sustainable fishing in Africa

Blanco-Fernandez

Ardura

Masiá

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite high effort for food traceability to ensure safe and sustainable consumption, mislabeling persists on seafood markets. Determining what drives deliberate fraud is necessary to improve food authenticity and sustainability. In this study, the relationship between consumer’s appreciation and fraudulent mislabeling was assessed through a combination of a survey on consumer’s preferences (N = 1608) and molecular tools applied to fish samples commercialized by European companies. We analyzed 401 samples of fish highly consumed in Europe and worldwide (i.e. tuna, hake, anchovy, and blue whiting) through PCR-amplification and sequencing of a suite of DNA markers. Results revealed low mislabeling rate (1.9%), with a higher mislabeling risk in non-recognizable products and significant mediation of fish price between consumer´s appreciation and mislabeling risk of a species. Furthermore, the use of endangered species (e.g. Thunnus thynnus), tuna juveniles for anchovy, and still not regulated Merluccius polli hake as substitutes, points towards illegal, unreported and/or unregulated fishing from African waters. These findings reveal a worrying intentional fraud that hampers the goal of sustainable seafood production and consumption, and suggest to prioritize control efforts on highly appreciated species.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“… 1 – 5 . In some marine species as the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua mislabeling is decreasing 6 while in others like hake it has oscillated over the last decades and seems to be increasing in the last years 7 . DNA analysis is widely used for becoming increasingly affordable, even when multiple markers are needed 1 , 8 , 9 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fraud in highly appreciated fish detected from DNA in Europe may undermine the Development Goal of sustainable fishing in Africa

Blanco-Fernandez

Ardura

Masiá

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…DNA barcoding has become a widely used method for identifying species [ 30 ], marketed seafood (e.g., [ 7 , 9 , 11 , 31 ]), and indeed commercial shark products [ 19 , 20 ]. In addition, it has proven useful in conservation of highly commercial and vulnerable shark populations because of its ability to provide information on population structure [ 16 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fisheries Threatening Shark Conservation in African Waters Revealed from High Levels of Shark Mislabelling in Ghana

Agyeman

Blanco-Fernandez

Steinhaussen

et al. 2021

Genes

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mislabelling of fish and fish products has attracted much attention over the last decades, following public awareness of the practice of substituting high-value with low-value fish in markets, restaurants, and processed seafood. In some cases, mislabelling includes illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, contributing to overexploit substitute species that are undetectable when sold under wrong names. This is the first study of DNA barcoding to assess the level of mislabelling in fish marketed in Ghana, focusing on endangered shark species. Genetic identification was obtained from 650 base pair sequences within the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene. All except one of 17 shark fillets analysed were wrongly labelled as compared with none of 28 samples of small commercial pelagic fish and 14 commercial shark samples purchased in Europe. Several substitute shark species in Ghana are endangered (Carcharhinus signatus and Isurus oxyrinchus) and critically endangered (Squatina aculeata). Shark products commercialized in Europe (n = 14) did not reveal mislabelling, thus specific shark mislabelling cannot be generalized. Although based on a limited number of samples and fish markets, the results that reveal trade of endangered sharks in Ghana markets encourage Ghanaian authorities to improve controls to enforce conservation measures.

show abstract

“…On the other hand, geographical information is useful for stakeholders (competent authorities of official controls, producers, consumers) to understand and track the routes of processed seafood and then to implement the best strategies for the monitoring and prevention of fraudulent activities. For example, sympatric substitutions of morphologically similar species could be due to an accidental mistake in sorting onboard, if the species are caught in mixed catches/harvests, whereas substitutions by an allopatric would most probably be deliberate (Blanco-Fernandez et al, 2021). Yet, our results show dependence between country of production and mislabelling, thus confirming the relationship between expansion of the supply chain and major risk of fraudulent behaviour (D'Amico et al, 2016;Fox et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species authentication of canned mackerel: Challenges in molecular identification and potential drivers of mislabelling

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Seventeen years analysing mislabelling from DNA barcodes: Towards hake sustainability

Cited by 16 publications

References 61 publications

Fraud in highly appreciated fish detected from DNA in Europe may undermine the Development Goal of sustainable fishing in Africa

Fraud in highly appreciated fish detected from DNA in Europe may undermine the Development Goal of sustainable fishing in Africa

Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fisheries Threatening Shark Conservation in African Waters Revealed from High Levels of Shark Mislabelling in Ghana

Species authentication of canned mackerel: Challenges in molecular identification and potential drivers of mislabelling

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About