False Fish Found in Florida Restaurants
Posted on: Tuesday, 13 February 2007, 15:00 CST
Undercover agents sampling grouper fish at 24 restaurants in the Madeira Beach, Fla., area found that 17 of the restaurants were serving counterfeit fish.
The state attorney general's office conducted DNA tests on the fish and found that 17 of the fish were Asian catfish, emperor fish, painted sweetlips and other non-grouper species of fish, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
This problem is rampant across America, said Mark Kinsey, a special agent for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who enforces marine resource laws. And it isn't just grouper.
Industry officials said attempts to pass inferior fish off as more expensive species are brought about by supply and demand with the popularity of grouper and other expensive fish on the rise in U.S. restaurants.
It's a rip-off -- like taking a cheap watch and selling it as a Rolex, said Bob Spaeth, owner of six commercial fishing boats and co-owner of one of the largest grouper distributors on the Gulf Coast. Someone should go to jail.
Source: United Press International
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