Sustainable Fishing Challenged by Seafood Mislabeling

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About this Research Topic

Submission deadlines

  1. Manuscript Summary Submission Deadline 16 March 2025 | Manuscript Submission Deadline 16 April 2025

  2. This Research Topic is still accepting articles.

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Background

Seafood mislabeling has been increasingly documented over the past decade, raising public concern over the authenticity, safety, and sustainability of seafood products. Tackling seafood mislabeling often poses significant challenges, since it manifests in diverse forms, including misidentifying species, misrepresenting farming versus wild sourcing, and falsifying geographical origins. Economic gain or cultural preferences are often considered the greatest motivations for this fraudulent behavior. However, substitute products are, on average, of equal or lesser conservation concern than the expected products they replace, and the mislabeling of threatened fish species further exacerbates the problem. In particular, the defrauder benefits from selling species that are often poorly managed and wild-caught. Furthermore, seafood mislabeling has the potential to undermine the purchasing behavior of consumers who actively support sustainable fisheries, thus potentially jeopardizing these efforts. Ensuring seafood authenticity is crucial in preventing such practices and fostering sustainable fishing practices that safeguard marine biodiversity. Over the years, diverse analytical techniques and pillars of quality assurance with their unique advantages have been developed to ensure seafood authenticity. Applications of several analytical techniques such as DNA-based techniques, spectrometric techniques, chromatographic techniques, lateral flow immunoassays, and techniques for elemental analysis and stable isotopes have been widely discussed. Nevertheless, continuous exploration of analysis technology rooted in seafood characteristics serves as a theoretical foundation for the entirety of the regulatory process. Given the intricate nature of seafood mislabeling issues, analytical methods require constant updating and refinement, with utmost consideration for result accuracy and timeliness. Consequently, the development of rapid analysis technologies is imperative for enhancing the current state of affairs in the realm of seafood authenticity.

This research topic aims to gather and integrate advancements in rapid analytical techniques for seafood authentication. By disseminating these innovations to industrial risk-management systems, legislators, scholars, and other potential readers, we can enhance the progress toward developing precise and effective analytical methods that safeguard seafood quality and prevent seafood fraud. Specific questions to be addressed include the efficacy of various analytical methods, the development of new technologies, and the integration of these methods into regulatory frameworks. Hypotheses to be tested may involve the accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness of novel analytical techniques compared to traditional methods.

To gather further insights into the boundaries of seafood authentication, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Isothermal amplification methods leveraged for onsite seafood authentication
- Electrochemical and optical DNA-based biosensors focused on seafood authentication
- Mid-infrared (MIR), near-infrared (NIR), and Raman spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques for seafood authentication
- Other related novel analytic methods and techniques for seafood authentication.

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This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

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  • Data Report
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  • General Commentary
  • Hypothesis and Theory
  • Methods
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  • Opinion

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

  • Brief Research Report
  • Community Case Study
  • Data Report
  • Editorial
  • General Commentary
  • Hypothesis and Theory
  • Methods
  • Mini Review
  • Opinion
  • Original Research
  • Perspective
  • Policy and Practice Reviews
  • Policy Brief
  • Review
  • Systematic Review
  • Technology and Code

Keywords: Seafood mislabeling, seafood fraud, seafood authenticity, marine conservation, analytical methods

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