In a message dated 7/10/2006 10:36:47 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
george@endeavorseafood.com writes:
Dear Bob,
I am not sure this is a technical issue per se.
There is no shortage of technical help in this area. There also seems to be
no shortage of people who are willing to cut corners (okay, let’s drop the
euphemisms and say cheat) in order to deliver the very cheapest price. People
knowingly produce, buy and sell products that are not as represented
(species substitution, short weights, etc.). That occurs at every level of the
supply chain. It is the consumer who ultimately pays. Is it practically
possible to educate those consumers that they are not eating grouper or that the
fish in their fish & chips weighs 2.7 oz rather than 3.0 oz?
In my opinion, this is not a technical issue but rather one of economics and
enforcement. The NFI Economic Integrity Task Force has done a significant
amount of fine work in this area. Maybe NFI could give an overview of these
activities. Also Peter Redmayne wrote an excellent article (“Fish Business
Gets Fishier”) in the June issue of Seafood Business which is accessible on
line.
Best regards,
George Souza
Endeavor Seafood, Inc.
Newport, RI
401-841-5412
Dear George:
Not being a member of NFI, I am not familiar with all their fine work so I
assume most of the industry and state regulators here in Florida and Georgia
are not aware of it either. Product substitution is a nasty subject, "dirty
laundry in public" and all those other "euphemisms " but the bottom line is
seafood product substitution seems to be growing like a cancer with no treatment
for shrinking it in sight.
We are in a quandary. We do not want to damage the reputation of the
restaurant trade because they are our biggest customers nor do we want 20/20 or 60
Minutes to do a 30 minute special on how crooked our industry and the
restaurants are because they "pick the pockets of the unsuspecting consumers" or
words such as this that the TV hosts use to gain viewers.
By the same token, those of us in the domestic seafood business can only
hope to survive financially for instance if fresh domestic grouper shown on the
menus of restaurants is really grouper and not Vietnamese/Chinese catfish,
basa, pangasius or whatever they may call that fish. Neither can we create and
hold market share for our Florida pink, white and brown shrimp if a
restaurant touts serving fresh local shrimp but is serving Asian pond raised shrimp.
Our local shrimp that is produced under proper quality guidelines is a
delicacy while much of the pond raised shrimp is a commodity that costs much less
than local shrimp.
We are not against the market controlling our future if the market is a
level playing field. Product substitution gives all the advantage to those who
cheat. We think the fines and penalties are too light and we think any business
caught twice for cheating should have to show cause why their operating
licenses should not be revoked.
Thank you for your interest in this blight on our industry.
Bob Jones, Executive Director
Southeastern Fisheries Assn.
1118-B Thomasville Road
Tallahassee, Florida 32303
850.224.0612
www.southeasternfish.org
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