Because seafood is such a high-value product, it is a particularly attractive target for fraud. Sometimes the fraud is not intentional, but simple ignorance. Unfortunately sometimes it is deliberate from an unscrupulous company(s).

It's important that you know what you are buying and the quality of your purchase. The FDA warns us to be careful of 'bargains'. Some fish such as Red Snapper are seasonal fish. You cannot purchase these fish fresh in the off season. And for any type of fish, if you are purchasing 'Fresh' fish at a bargain price, it may be from the last season's frozen inventory. If you buy frozen fish, ask how and when it was frozen. Flash frozen fish at sea uses a technology that makes the quality of this type of frozen fish higher than most 'fresh' fish since it is processed immediately on the ship and flash frozen within 4 hours of being caught.. But, if the fish were caught at sea, simply iced and then brought to shore several days later, processed and frozen at the processing plant, the quality of this is not so high.

The most common form of fraud is substituting a cheap look-alike fish for the more expensive fish. Some companies have been found guilty of trying to pass Rockfish, a product of Canada, as Red Snapper, which comes from the southern Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

Another common example is substituting Shark for Swordfish. According to the FDA : Shark is often substituted for swordfish. Look for the distinctive redish-brown blood line in the Swordfish.

Telling the difference in substitutions can be difficult. Since the looks are so similar, sometimes it is not until you bring it home and cook it that you find a difference. If your recent purchase tastes different or has a different texture than what you are used to, talk to the manager of the market it came from.

According to the FDA, here is how to distinguish some common Species:

- Haddock has a dark lateral line along the skin surface.
- Skinless Cod fillets have a distinctive white papery membrane along the belly and a white line of fat along the lateral line of the fillet.
- Shark and Swordfish look alike, but shark has a dark streak of flesh in the center and rough skin along the edge.
- Red Snapper comes only from the southern Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico
(ask your retailer where the snapper originated)
- Orange Roughy comes only from Australia or New Zealand and always arrives frozen.
         It may be sold thawed, but it must be labeled as previously frozen.
- Scrod is not a type of fish. The term originated in the Boston area to describe the catch of the day. It is a fish under two and a half pounds that is either cod, haddock or pollock. Such fish should be labeled in the market or listed in a restaurant as "scrod cod," "scrod haddock," or "scrod pollock."

We believe the best way to protect the consumer is by educating the consumer.