California Restaurant Fined $120,000 For Knowingly Mislabeling Seafood

Fish fraud, or passing off a cheaper fish as a more expensive one, is one of the biggest issues in the seafood industry today, and in fact almost half of all sushi is mislabeled, according to a recent study. The problem is particularly rampant in California, where recently Odeum, an eatery in Morgan Hill in the Bay Area, was recently fined $120,000 for passing off tilapia as petrale sole for nearly a year, according to SFGate. While tilapia is one of the most common types of white fish, there is only one designated petrale sole fishery in the entire United States off the coast of Oregon.

Odeum restaurant, according to the lawsuit settlement will —In addition to paying the six-figure fine —have to offer a $30 gift card to any customer who ordered sole at the restaurant between October 2014 and March 2016 and who files a claims form by May 31. Oreum has declined to comment on the legal proceedings.

In December, the Obama administration addressed the issue of seafood fraud by implementing the Seafood Import Monitoring Program, which would inspect all incoming at-risk seafood products for both fraud and illegal fishing. The program has continued thus far under the Trump administration.