Some 7% of cod sold was mislabelled in the UK and 28% in Ireland,

Run_to_da_hills

Shoppers are being overcharged for cheaper fish being sold off as cod, according to new research.

Some 7% of cod was mislabelled in the UK and 28% in Ireland, a study published in the scientific journal Fish and Fisheries found.

Less expensive species, including pollack and whiting, are labelled and sold as cod and a threatened species of cod was also being sold as "sustainably sourced" in one supermarket, the study said.

Some 88.6% of all mislabelled cod products identified from both Ireland and the UK were smoked, breaded or battered, because this can conceal the appearance, smell and the taste of a fish fillet, researchers said.

Scientists at University College Dublin used DNA barcoding techniques to genetically identify 226 cod products purchased from supermarkets, fishmongers and takeaway outlets across Ireland and the UK.

My local chipper sells real chips and cod, I would never buy any of that processed square fish or fish fingers.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/cheaper-fish-passed-off-as-cod-16023479.html

profitius

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Less expensive species, including pollack and whiting, are labelled and sold as cod and a threatened species of cod was also being sold as "sustainably sourced" in one supermarket, the study said.

Pollack and whiting are part of the cod family and they're nice underrated fish that taste similar. Theres very little difference. Even so, they should be cheaper if the shops are paying less for them.

Night_owl4

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

My local chipper sells real chips and cod, I would never buy any of that processed square fish or fish fingers.

Are you sure it's REAL cod and chips?? How would you know?

Run_to_da_hills

Night_owl4 wrote: »

Are you sure it's REAL cod and chips?? How would you know?

Its yummy.

maxer68

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

My local chipper sells real chips and cod, I would never buy any of that processed square fish or fish fingers.

Its the chipper cod that this report talked about. - Don't think its news though - this was reported over a year ago.

Early start to news slow season when old stories are re-hashed and a cat stuck in a tree can make front page.


Should be some classics this year because there's so little news out there. (and no hacking either:D)

Mellor

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Its yummy.

So is battered pollack and whiting

CJhaughey

I've been whiting for this to re-surface.

jett

Right plaice for this post:D

Nanazolie

dear cod!

Mellor

Holy mackerel!!!

Captain Chaos

You're codding me.

mikemac

If my local chipper is at this messing, I'll batter the owner :mad:

He'll be calling the gardai begging for kelp

rubadub

maxer68 wrote: »

this was reported over a year ago.

Yeah, I posted about it here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=65536047#post65536047


http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Fish_Puns#So_why_are_Fish_Puns_Brill-iant.3F

So why are Fish Puns Brill-iant?

There is almost no situation in life that doesn't offer an op-perch-tuna-ty for a good fish pun. If you've ever haddock-ray-ving for piscine based wordplay, there's always one to suit your need. Indeed, some fish are so improbably named that it seems their names were invented sole-ly for the porpoise of punning. Take, for example, the sturgeon, the pike or the particularly oddly named hugetits found in the Mediterranean Sea, particularly in the summer months. Such gifts to the astute wordsmith cannot have come about by accident, and it is tempting to infer that The Almighty created such species, proving not only His existence, but also that He likes a giggle as much as the next man.

jett

Its giving me a haddock ( headache)

Night_owl4

Hey guys,

This is a new story - fish was sampled in the UK as well this time and turns out the fraudulent activity is four times worse in Ireland. But - fish that were advertised as 'sustainable' were also found mislabelled, which is worrying from a conservation point of view. Additionally - it wasn't just fish and chip shops responsible and not just ground up 'portions of cod' that were mislabelled - the worst offender in the UK was a major supermarket that operates in Ireland as well! The real issue here is WHY is this happening. Cod is depleted in Irish and EU waters therefor it is a scarce product and expensive - there is incentive here for fraudulent behaviour. We shouldn't be demanding so much cod considering the state of the resource, we should be instead asking for what they were mislabelling cod for, but know what it is when we're buying it!

ejmaztec

CJhaughey wrote: »

I've been whiting for this to re-surface.

Pollacks

CJhaughey

Night_owl4 wrote: »

Cod is depleted in Irish and EU waters therefor it is a scarce product and expensive -

A little OT but relevant
Actually Cod is not that scarce or depleted, its just that the common fisheries policy is a failure and some of the policies are downright criminal.
We have quite good cod stocks in this country, in the SE for example fishermen have had to dump perfectly good Cod overboard in order to stay legal. If the quota is exhausted for Cod then by law fishermen can't land it.
So, you have the example of a fisherman catching Cod along with other species and having to dump it.
The Cod is never recorded as being dumped because it was never recorded as being landed on the logbook.
Thus the self fulfilling prophecy starts- the Scientists can't see that Cod are being caught and the stats show that there are no Cod being caught = Ergo there must be no Cod!
Then the scentists come along in their research vessel and do random transects*tows of the net* of the area and don't catch any Cod. = Cod stocks must be down- we had better cut the quota.
Actually Norway have 100,000 tons of cod quota, Iceland have pretty good stocks as well.
and in addition the Grand Banks have also recovered quite well, so well that a British charter vessel was able to catch 250tons of fillets there under scientific study not to long ago.
The big problem is that having had the *Cod is nearly extinct* message hammered into people for a decade now and the Grand Banks being cited as as example of irresponsible fishermen/govermental oversight, The message that Cod are back and doing quite well thank you would be a step backwards for a lot of the Green media.

Night_owl4

http://www.ices.dk/committe/acom/comwork/report/2011/2011/cod-scow.pdf

http://www.ices.dk/committe/acom/comwork/report/2011/2011/cod-iris.pdf

Cod is scarce and it is certainly depleted in Irish waters - the advice of ICES scientists since 2003 has been for the complete closure of fisheries for cod in the waters West of Scotland and in the Irish sea. Maybe I shouldn't say depleted... severely depleted is more accurate. Irish landings of cod have declined by over 90% - 90%!!!! from peak production in the mid 1980's.

Yes, it is true that some stocks of Atlantic cod are in much better shape than others but this certainly would not be the case for the majority of them.

And yes - you are completely right with the CFP being a failure and discards are an excellent example of why it has failed. Hopefully - hopefully hopefully this CFP reform will bring some positive change.

Scientists are not stupid though, they are very aware of the problem of discarding and highgrading and have been for some time. There are ways of estimating rates to a certain degree of accuracy and consideration of discards are certainly factored into scientific advice (again, I refer to the ICES documents posted).

Another point - random transects are a much better way of assessing how many fish are in the sea than using 'landings' data - for the very same reason you listed yourself (discarding). Also - fishermen aren't stupid, they know where to go to find cod. Cod is a species that tends to aggregate at low population densities, and so if fishermen are catching fish from these aggregations, catches might remain high, but overall the stock size could be dangerously low (this is likely what happened in Newfoundland). And no, cod stocks are not back to a high enough level to open the Grand Banks fishery again - it's been closed for 20 years though, isn't that bad enough?!

As to statements that cod is nearly extinct - no, it's not. BUT - in the state that our local Irish stocks are currently in, it certainly shouldn't be the most popular whitefish consumed in the country. Especially seeing as this is an island nation and the incredible majority of seafood landed here are the small pelagics and shellfish - much more sustainable choices!

vicwatson

It's time to plaice the perpatrators under arrest.

Have they no sole at all, how could you do this?

ha, drum roll please !

On a serious note, I say name and shame, this has to stop.

foggy_lad

Night_owl4 wrote: »

Hey guys,

This is a new story - fish was sampled in the UK as well this time and turns out the fraudulent activity is four times worse in Ireland. But - fish that were advertised as 'sustainable' were also found mislabelled, which is worrying from a conservation point of view. Additionally - it wasn't just fish and chip shops responsible and not just ground up 'portions of cod' that were mislabelled - the worst offender in the UK was a major supermarket that operates in Ireland as well! The real issue here is WHY is this happening. Cod is depleted in Irish and EU waters therefor it is a scarce product and expensive - there is incentive here for fraudulent behaviour. We shouldn't be demanding so much cod considering the state of the resource, we should be instead asking for what they were mislabelling cod for, but know what it is when we're buying it!

If I was a fisherman fishing for anything but cod in the sea and my nets catch a few tons of cod as well as the other fish I want and have a quota for then I must put all that dead cod back in the sea which is pollution as well as a shameful waste when people are starving in the world and people are short of money and food in my own country!

It has already been shown by reports from fishermen that from the numbers of cod they are catching and throwing back in the sea dead there is no longer a scarcity of cod but other species are being fished out of existence due to european rules and regulations that are dreamed up by pen-pushers that have never been on a boat!

Hal Emmerich

Catfish and Chips....mmmmm

Techno_Toaster

your codding me..this is really going on