Text 'IS YOUR SEAFOOD FRAUDULENT?' on a green background with fishnet illustrations.

Where Is Your Seafood From?

How to Find the Real Deal

Seafood fraud sounds like a seedy South Florida grift, but it’s rampant all over the country and you’ve probably been duped.

A few months ago, dozens of restaurants in South Carolina made national headlines for serving shrimp falsely labeled as local. It wasn’t patrons or seafood connoisseurs that were able to uncover the con. It was a DNA test that had to be commissioned by the local shrimpers.

Now how sure are you that the $15 “catch of the day” you had in the Keys was a tilefish and not a tilapia? Seafood has a trust issue. We can’t all bring our DNA sequencers to a seafood dinner, so we just need to trust the restaurant…and their suppliers…and often their suppliers' suppliers.

There are fantastic seafood joints throughout Florida, you might just need to work a little harder to make sure you’re getting the good stuff. Here are some tips:

Seafood fisherman holds large lobster catch up to camera on a boat

SEMI-RISKY

If you see a semi-truck with a nationally recognizable distributor plastered on the side, the seafood probably isn’t local. It might still be decent stuff but the list of people you need to trust just multiplied.

CHEF KNOWS BEST

Ask an employee where the seafood came from. If they don’t know exactly, something’s fishy. Good restaurants typically end up spending more when they buy local and they can’t wait to tell you why.

PRETTY SLY FOR SWAI

Swai is just a fun way of saying Vietnamese catfish (not local).

Oyster farmer working with oyster cages in a body of water.

THERE'S ALWAYS A PAPER TRAIL

Oysters are easy. Every raw oyster legally sold in America requires a special tag and a paper trail. That tag has to stay with the oysters from the moment they are harvested until they’re shucked and slurped. Ask for the tag! They have it and they have to show you. You’ll find out more than you ever wanted to know about that oyster; the exact date, time, location of harvest, as well as the farmer, harvest style, and processor. The tags don’t lie.

TAKE A BREAK FROM CHAINS

Avoid huge chain restaurants. Try the restaurant where you can have a chat with the chef. Restaurants that have a chef, not an army of microwaves.

It comes down to us consumers to fix the problem. The US imported 79% of our seafood in 2023 because that’s what we’re spending our money on. Find a restaurant, fisherman, or farmer you can trust and help them keep their lights on.

The Rundown: Questions to Help You Do The Work

How do I actually verify oysters are legit? Ask for the tag. Every raw oyster sold legally in the U.S. has one, and it lists everything: harvest date, exact location, farmer name, the works. They have to show you. If they won't, don’t eat it.

What's the most common seafood bait-and-switch? Red Snapper is one of the most mislabeled fish in the world (often swapped for Tilapia or Rockfish). Swai (that's Vietnamese catfish, by the way) is sold as local catfish. Imported shrimp with a "Gulf" sticker slapped on. Basically, cheap fish wearing expensive fish costumes.

Are big seafood distributors automatically sketchy? Not automatically, but they move product from everywhere, which makes verification harder. More people between the boat and your plate means more opportunities for someone to fudge the paperwork.

What's the deal with wild-caught vs. farm-raised? Wild-caught means open water, natural fisheries. Farm-raised means controlled environments. Neither is automatically better. Sustainable farms exist, and wild populations get overfished. The issue is when you're lied to about which one you're eating.

Does seafood fraud mess with fish populations? Absolutely. When overfished species get relabeled as sustainable catches, conservation efforts get torpedoed. You think you're making a responsible choice, but you're accidentally funding the opposite.

How does buying local seafood help the actual water? Local fishermen need healthy fisheries to make a living, so they lead a lot of conservation work. Give them your money, give them resources to fight for habitat protection and sustainable management. They're already doing the work. They just need backup.