Salmon Fraud in Seattle
(Research Study)

Fishy Business in Seattle: Salmon mislabeling fraud in sushi restaurants vs grocery stores

Abstract: Salmon is the most commonly consumed finfish in the United States of America (USA), and the mislabeling of salmon is a widespread problem. Washington State is a global supplier of wild-caught Pacific salmon and local salmon mislabeling results in substantial economic, ecological, and cultural impacts. Previous studies in Washington State identified high levels of mislabeled salmon in both markets and restaurants, resulting in local legislation being passed that requires proper labeling of salmon products, including identifying it as wild-caught or farm-raised. To investigate whether recent legislative efforts reduced salmon fraud rates, we acquired and genetically barcoded salmon samples from 67 grocery stores and 52 sushi restaurants in Seattle, Washington. DNA from each salmon sample was isolated and the cytochrome c oxidase gene was sequenced to identify the fish species. Our study, conducted from 2022–2023, revealed 18% of salmon samples from both grocery stores and sushi restaurants were mislabeled. While most samples were acquired during the fall months when wild salmon is in season, we still observed a high salmon mislabeling rate. Unlike grocery stores, Seattle sushi restaurants often sold farmed salmon mislabeled as wild salmon. Specifically, substitutions of vendor-claimed wild salmon with farmed salmon occurred in 32.3% of sushi restaurant samples compared to 0% of grocery store samples. Additionally, occurrences of wild salmon being substituted with another salmon species (wild or farmed) occurred in 38.7% of sushi restaurant samples compared to 11.1% of grocery store samples. All salmon substitutions in sushi restaurants harmed the customer financially as they were given a cheaper market-priced fish. In grocery stores, however, we did not detect significant economic loss to customers due to salmon mislabeling. Taken together, it is important to continue to develop and enforce legislation in Washington State that prevents salmon fraud and promotes ecologically sustainable fishing practices.

The study can be found at --> https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0311522 

Citation: Garcia JL, Gaspar YA, Djekoundade A, Dalere M, Al-awadi AA, Allossogbe M, et al. and Delgado T. Fishy business in Seattle: Salmon mislabeling fraud in sushi restaurants vs grocery stores. PLOS ONE. 2024 Nov 6;19(11):e0311522. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0311522 

MEDIA INQUIRIES? Please contact Dr. Tracie Delgado at delgadot@spu.edu 

Press Coverage

• Radio Links

  • All Things Considered (KUOW - NPR news). Nov 6, 2024. ~4:06pm

    • Audio link --> CLICK HERE

  • The Jake Skorheim & Spike O'Neill Show on KIRO News Radio (97.3 FM - Seattle). Nov 8, 2024.  Podcast Hour 1. (1:15 - 10:30 min mark)

  • "The Gee Scott & Ursula Reutin Show" on KIRO News Radio (97.3 FM - Seattle). Nov 7, 2024.  Podcast Hour 2. (8:14 - 11:30 min mark)

• News Article Links

  • "‘Wild’ salmon isn’t wild at 1 out of 3 Seattle sushi spots, study finds." (Seattle Times - by Bethany Jean Clement). Nov 8, 2024.

    • Reposted by The Spokesman Review

  • "Seattle study finds salmon is being mislabeled in restaurants." (KING-5 News - by Erica Zucco). Nov 6, 2024.

    • Reposted by WTHR13 (Indianapolis, IND News), KGW8 (Portland, OR News), WTOL11 (Toledo, OH News), KCEN-TV12 (Texas Local News), and WQAD8 ABC (Moline, IL News).

  • "That piece of salmon in your shopping cart, is it really wild or is it farmed?" (KUOW / NPR - by Ruby de Luna). Nov 7, 2024.

  • "Your Sushi Isn’t What It Seems: New Study Exposes Rampant Salmon Fraud." (Gizmodo - by Ed Cara). Nov 6, 2024.

    • Gizmodo video version = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvMpEzMPHMY 

    • Reposted by The Defender and Tub-Blois. 

  • "Salmon scam in Washington; Your sushi often doesn’t contain what you think it does." (My Northwest News - by Bill Kaczaraba). Nov 8, 2024.

    • Reposted by Kiro 7 (CBS) Seattle News, Yahoo news, and Head Topics.

  • "The ‘wild’ salmon on your menu might not be wild." (Popular Science - by Lauren Leffer). Nov 6, 2024.

    • Reposted by Yahoo News. 

  • "SPU researchers identify salmon mislabeling at sushi restaurants, grocery stores." (SPU Press release - by Tracy Norlen). Nov 6, 2024. 

  • "Are You Really Eating Wild Salmon? Scientists Expose Rampant Mislabeling." (Science Daily - by PLOS). Nov 9, 2024. 

  • "Study Finds High Rates of Fish Fraud in Salmon Sold at Seattle Sushi Restaurants." (Food Safety Magazine). Nov 11, 2024.

  • "Salmon frequently mislabeled in Seattle grocery stores and sushi restaurants." (Eureka News Release from PLOS ONE - by Hanna Abdallah)

    • Reposted by Mirage News, Yumda, and Morning AgClips.

  • "Grocery stores are more reliable than sushi restaurants in labeling salmon properly, Seattle study finds." (PHYS.ORG - by Public Library of Science). Nov 6, 2024.

  • "Something fishy about Seattle salmon." (Consumer Affairs - by James R .Hood). Nov 7, 2024.

    • Reposted by Burger Bud. 

  • "Salmon Frequently Mislabeled In Seattle Grocery Stores And Sushi Restaurants." (Eurasia Review News - by Eurasia Review). Nov 7, 2024.

  • "Hey, is that salmon or... ?" (Eater Seattle - by Courtney E. Smith). Nov 8, 2024. 

    • Reposted by Msn. 

  • Study Reveals Salmon Mislabeling In Seattle Sushi Restaurants. (Seattle Medium). Nov 13, 2024.

  • Study Reveals High Rates of Salmon Mislabeling in Seattle Sushi Restaurants. (The University Network). Nov 8, 2024. 

    • Reposted by Food Safety Magazine. 

  • Mislabeled salmon spawns investigation. (OPB News). Nov 15, 2024.

  • "Study - Salmon Fraud in Washington: Your Sushi May Not Be What You Think." (Seafood Media). Nov 11, 2024. 

  • "Scientists’ testing detects fake shrimp labeling" and salmon fraud (National Fisherman by Paul Molyneaux). Dec 19, 2024.

  • "The Red Flag That Something's Fishy About The Salmon You're Buying". (Daily Meal by Amrita Ray). Jan 19, 2025.

    • Reposted by Yahoo Life.