Understanding Seafood Labels and Certifications
Understanding Seafood Labels and Certifications Introduction Okay so here’s something I’m mildly embarrassed to admit. For years — actual years — I bought seafood while barely glancing at the label. “Wild-caught” sounded good, so I’d reach for that. “Product of multiple countries” made me vaguely uneasy, so I’d put it back. Beyond that? I was mostly just guessing. It wasn’t until someone at a fish market stopped me mid-reach and said, essentially, “that label doesn’t mean what you think it means” that I actually started paying attention. He wasn’t being rude — he was trying to be helpful. And the more he explained, the more I realised I’d been making decisions based on a half-understanding of language designed, at least in part, to sound reassuring rather than to inform. Seafood labelling is a genuinely complicated space. It’s shaped by international trade rules, varying national regulations, industry lobbying, and the basic logistical difficulty of tracking a product that might...