Think you’re eating local seafood? Beware of ‘local-washing’

“It’s not really the restaurant’s fault in a lot of ways,” Tese is quick to add — thanks to the ubiquitousness of certain species and ever-tangling seafood supply chains, it’s all too easy for consumers and food industry folks alike to make similar assumptions. “There’s that perception that if you’re buying something locally, number one, that it’s local,” Tese says. “And then also that if you’re in a seaside town, Why wouldn’t the people be serving local fish?”

In many coastal communities, the promise of fresh seafood can be both a draw for tourists and a moneymaker for local businesses. Research has even found that people are willing to pay more for seafood when they are in direct view of an active harbor or live fisheries activity (say, when dining at a restaurant on the waterfront). But increasingly, local seafood is not a given, even in areas where fishing has historically been an important industry — the origin of the seafood at that harborfront restaurant can sometimes be hazy, even deliberately falsified. So what is there to do about it?

Expectations versus the complex reality

“Unlike with agriculture, looking for local seafood isn’t cut and dry,” says Jackie Marks, senior PR and U.S. communications manager at the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Even if seafood stays in the country or region where it was caught, it usually makes many stops on its way from the boat to your plate. But a lot of seafood travels much farther. In many cases, a fish harvested in one country is sent to another to be broken down and frozen or canned, then shipped to yet another country for distribution.

“Seafood is the most globally traded commodity,” Marks explains, and the U.S. is a huge importer: It’s estimated that about 80 percent of the seafood sold here comes from overseas. Imports in a global economy are not a bad thing in and of themselves. But certain seafood imports are cheaper than domestic products due to a comparative laxity of regulations, which not only makes it hard for U.S. fishers to compete but is sometimes enabled by poor treatment of workers, practices that harm the environment, and public health concerns like unchecked use of antibiotics on fish farms. The most extreme cases constitute illegal, unreported and unregulated (or “IUU”) fishing, which is the source of an estimated 20 percent of all wild-caught fish.

Tangled supply chains and a lack of requirements about traceability can leave room for information to be lost in translation — or worse. “Dominant seafood supply chains are global in scale and extremely convoluted, yet there is little transparency,” explains Feini Yin, communications director for the North American Marine Alliance (NAMA). “So much so that it’s commonly said by those in the industry that even people along supply chains can’t name all of the links of their chain, just the links immediately above and below them.”

Intentionally misrepresenting seafood as “local” falls under the broader category of fishery fraud, and is usually done with the goal of fetching a higher price at a given link in the supply chain. Iconic seafood local to a specific area offers a higher value proposition, and falsely portraying something as such might also include substituting a less desirable species or passing off farmed fish as wild.

Country-of-origin labeling requirements apply to retailers, but there is no parallel federal law for food service establishments, and some kinds of processed seafood products (for example, fish sticks, frozen breaded shrimp and tinned fish) are exempt. This leaves a lot of gray area. “Restaurants and fish markets may use imagery, marketing, branding or simply geography, if they are near the water, to conjure a feeling of place,” Yin says. “When in actuality they are sourcing the lowest-cost fish they can get away with, from wherever they get it, usually a major food distributor.”

Still, says Dana Honn, a chef and seafood-industry advocate in New Orleans, it’s highly possible in some cases that the restaurant is equally in the dark: “I would say that it’s happening, to some degree, on all fronts.” A restaurant supplier or processor of frozen packaged seafood, for example, might also use words and phrases that indirectly imply a local operation. In his region, Honn says, “There’s a lot of product where you look at it, and you think, It’s just missing the word ‘Gulf.’”

Honn has seen firsthand how often public perception about seafood supply chains differs from reality, even in a place with as much maritime heritage as Louisiana. “I’ve had conversations with people who grew up here and who you would think would know the facts with regards to the seafood industry, and what actually ends up on the tables of restaurants, who are completely oblivious,” he says.

Species of concern, coast to coast

The Gulf Coast shrimping industry, Honn explains, is an area where these issues are increasingly coming to a head. Shrimp is considered the most imported seafood variety — up to 90 percent by some estimates, much of it farmed. But in Louisiana, the local shrimpers Honn has worked with are struggling. “Definitely everybody is feeling the effects of the imports,” he says. “Those alarm bells really started to become more pronounced over the last three or four years.”

In a coastal region where the shrimp is so famously delicious, and shrimping such a point of local pride, diners and shoppers can come in with certain expectations. There are laws in place in Louisiana that make it illegal to imply seafood from elsewhere was caught locally, which has made an impact, but foreign imitations remain pervasive — and usually undetected by the end consumer.

Honn has worked with industry leaders on public outreach to educate consumers about the situation, including through the Louisiana Shrimp Festival, which he founded in 2024. He worked with SeaD Consulting, a sustainable seafood technology company founded by fisheries scientist Dave Williams, to genetically test the shrimp on offer at the inaugural event (zero shrimp fraud was found). Many other events and restaurants in the region where SeaD has conducted testing have performed poorly in comparison. And it’s not just shrimp, either. “Shrimp and then crawfish are the two most egregiously affected by the imports,” Honn says, but adds, “I think that there are probably some other species that are gonna be in a similar situation before too long.”

The truth is that mislabeling can be an issue for nearly all seafood, even the country’s iconic regional seafood specialties, including Maryland blue crab, mahi mahi in Hawai’i or red snapper in the South. Yin also cites catfish — it’s common for restaurants to swap it out with imported swai — and salmon, which they say is often misrepresented, too. “One dead giveaway is when you see menus listing ‘local Atlantic salmon,’ or even ‘wild Atlantic salmon,’” they explain. “Because Atlantic salmon are endangered in the United States, commercial harvest is prohibited, and any Atlantic salmon you find in U.S. markets are farm-raised.”

Many Southern states have recently proposed or passed stricter labeling laws as mislabeled imported shrimp becomes a more glaring problem. But elsewhere, there’s more room for ambiguity. “It’s an issue all over,” Yin continues. “Certainly in places on the coast and near the water. Places that boast a deep, rich heritage of fishing, but where fishermen are now getting pushed out.”

Tracking down a truly local catch

When it comes to seeking out fresh, local, responsibly caught seafood, it can be daunting to know where to begin. It’s important, Yin says, to recognize that change is needed on many levels if local seafood systems are going to be revived and supported: “One thing we like to emphasize [at NAMA] is that ethical consumerism alone won’t save our fishing communities, nor the ocean.” Public awareness and shifts in policy are major parts of the equation.

That said, there are some general best practices you can follow to be more confident about what you’re getting. If you’re shopping at a fish market, ask a lot of questions. You can also look for seafood labels that require traceability; MSC Certification, for example, has tracking systems in place for the origin and entire chain of custody. If the option is available, you can also look into alternative business models — community-supported fisheries, fishing cooperatives — that help connect fishers directly with customers.

Another good rule of thumb for avoiding substitution fraud: The less processed the seafood, the more difficult it is to misrepresent. For example, sought-after Maine lobster is sometimes substituted with other species, like Caribbean spiny lobster or “squat lobster” (aka langostino), in dishes where the flesh has been picked or chopped up — but if you buy a whole lobster in the Northeastern U.S., you are probably getting what you think you are.

A little bit of research also goes a long way. Try to get a baseline understanding of the seafood landscape: What species are actually local where you are? (Filtering by region in NOAA FishWatch’s seafood database is a good place to start.) When is the fishing season, and when will migrating fish actually be in the area? This might also help you seek out lesser-known local species, often less of a target for fraud. “Blackfish is always here in this region, and is always a very, very safe fish to order,” Tese says, listing porgy, weakfish, butterfish and bluefish as other good local options in New York.

Yin echoes the strategy of seeking out more “niche” species in a given region, prioritizing wild-caught fish whenever possible. “In the Pacific Northwest, for example, that might be rockfish, sablefish and ling cod,” they say. “Where I live in the mid-Atlantic, there are many really great local species that are under-loved, such as dogfish, monkfish and skate.”

There are probably far more local options than you think. When working at his New Orleans restaurant Carmo, which closed last year, Honn kept track of all the Gulf seafood the team used at various points: “That was over 70 species,” he says. He brings printouts of the list whenever he does classes at the local culinary institute. “Almost everybody wants a copy, because they’re jazzed to find out that it’s not only the six or eight species that you see on most menus.”

Now, Honn and fellow chefs Christina do Carmo Honn and Wataru Saeki have brought the same philosophy to their new restaurant, Nikkei Izakaya. The team worked for years to create a raw program with Gulf seafood and even work with local fishers on sushi-grade best practices.

When dining out, looking for restaurants like this can take some of the guesswork out of ordering. Places that make local seafood sourcing an explicit part of their mission will usually be able to tell you exactly where your fillet or crudo came from. At Minnow, for example, the outline of the menu doesn’t change much, but the fish is different every day, with the available local varieties listed on blackboards so diners know what to expect. When it comes to ordering local, Tese says, “We don’t really give them much of a choice.”