Nine months after the publication of a startling report about incidents of farmed salmon incorrectly labeled as wild-caught, owners of Seattle sushi restaurants and grocery stores still don't consider mislabeling to be a major threat to their businesses and patrons.

Washington state's fish police disagree, contending that the issue is much worse than it appears.

A report published in November by Seattle Pacific University researchers called salmon mislabeling a widespread problem" after finding that 18% of salmon samples from Seattle-based grocery stores and sushi restaurants were mislabeled based on origin and species.

"Unlike grocery stores, Seattle sushi restaurants often sold farmed salmon mislabeled as wild salmon" by vendors, the academics determined in their report.

Some consumers and business owners are passionate about eating only wild-caught fish, due to contested claims over environmental concerns, contamination and health benefits, as the state Department of Health details. Farmed fish is a familiar taste to many, with the agency asserting that "most of the salmon available for us to eat is farmed."

With seven Pacific salmon species and one Atlantic salmon species, some wild varieties sell at far higher prices compared to others. Chinook salmon, otherwise known as king salmon, often tops the list. In recent years, the price of wild salmon was triple or quadruple what farmed salmon cost, the Alaskan Salmon Co. reports.

The salmon mislabeling study results didn't necessarily set off alarm bells for local restaurateurs and grocers, who are trying their best to steer clear of any mislabeling dilemmas. One Seattle sushi restaurant owner said he doesn't shy away from bugging his distributor about the origins of his fish, while the head of a grocery chain said her business has built trust with its vendors.

But in Washington, the mislabeling problem is especially striking because there's money on the line: Estimates by the U.S. Department of Commerce valued Washington's salmon harvest at close to $14 million annually in 2019, and Seattle has deep ties to Alaskan salmon fisheries.

In the opinion of Lt. Erik Olson of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police, "the only surprise to me in this study that I read was that I thought the numbers were too low," he said. "Far, far too low."

Several professionals in the food and fisheries industries relayed anecdotes of their own experiences with blatant or suspected salmon mislabeling.

In both the U.S. and Japan, "most vendors, they're like, 'Oh, fish is fish,'" Keiji Tsukasaki, owner of Ltd Edition Sushi in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, said in a phone interview.

"Fishy" business

Researchers for the article, Fishy business in Seattle: Salmon mislabeling fraud in sushi restaurants vs grocery stores, obtained samples of salmon from 52 sushi restaurants and 67 grocery stores in the city.

The study reports that farmed salmon labeled as wild made up about 32% of samples from sushi restaurants — and 0% of samples from grocery stores.

Wild salmon substituted with another wild or farmed salmon species — such as one Pacific salmon species sold as another — was tracked in almost 39% of samples from sushi restaurants and around 11% of samples from grocery stores, according to the report.

Ray Hilborn, a professor at the University of Washington's School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, conceded that the percentages cited in the study aren't outrageous, "but it's certainly much higher than it should be," he said.

Mislabeling has affected Hilborn's family personally.

He recalled that his wife was shopping at one of the Pike Place fishmongers and noticed fish labeled as wild red salmon, otherwise known as sockeye salmon.

"It was clearly farmed salmon," Hilborn said. The fishmonger later changed the sign.

And at a hotel restaurant in California, Hilborn raised his eyebrows at the special: wild Atlantic salmon, an endangered species in the U.S.

Hilborn questioned the chef, who responded that the distributor gave him that information.

Grocers and chefs should know how to tell salmon species apart, Hilborn said, though high-volume restaurants might encounter more mislabeling issues due to lack of knowledge about fish.

For example, he described sockeye salmon as "really very obvious" because of its red color and differences compared to farmed Atlantic salmon.

On the other hand, Chinook salmon can be farmed, Hilborn said, and, "boy, I'd have trouble telling those from wild Chinook salmon."

He argued that restaurant and grocery store owners aren't the ones hurt most by mislabeling. "It's primarily a problem for the consumer," Hilborn said. "They think they're buying something, and it's not what it really is."

It also presents a challenge for wild salmon fisheries, which Hilborn characterized as loath to share their turf with farmed salmon.

Ultimately, Hilborn supports blockchain technology to track fish as they move through the supply chain.

"I personally think that the fish world should be like the wine world, where you really know down to the very small scale where that fish came from," he said, "because fish is expensive."

Seafood fraud

Seafood fraud, including salmon mislabeling, falls under the purview of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police, a program made up of about 200 staff.

"We are to protect the commercial well-being of the state and the economic well-being and stability of the fishing industry," Olson, the wildlife police lieutenant, said.

He explained that the laws start at the harvest ground with the fisherman who catches the fish, which then goes to the dealer. The dealer completes fish receiving tickets, which help the state manage fisheries by tracking how many fish are harvested.

Dealers sell to grocery stores, fishmongers and restaurants, Olson said. He added that the vast majority of seafood fraud occurs at the retail level.

Law enforcement monitors retailers to check receipts and trace products because "trafficking in fish or shellfish is a felony in Washington state," Olson said.

Though he described most inspections as mundane, "we have had quite a few interesting issues where people are running out the back door with buckets of crab or throwing stuff into a dumpster," Olson said. He's run into cases where restaurants are using poached, undocumented seafood.

"Salmon is one of the biggest ones because it's one of the ones that are the easiest to defraud," Olson said. At a restaurant, for instance, salmon can be served glazed or sauced, easily hiding its origins.

There are instances in which it's not intentional.

"If (restaurants or grocers) buy product, and it's labeled incorrectly, you are not legally responsible. It's not your fault," Olson said.

But he's also encountered people who are knowingly selling mislabeled salmon. Olson remembered an incident with a man in the restaurant industry who sold farm-raised Atlantic salmon as Chinook salmon because customers wanted that variety, but he couldn't afford it.

When it comes to seafood fraud, "I think it's getting worse," Olson said. "Matter of fact, I know it's getting worse. We're trying to find new ways to tackle it."

Customers 'get what they are paying for'

Tsukasaki of Ltd Edition Sushi, a small Seattle sushi restaurant, is taking steps to avoid mislabeling mishaps.

Tsukasaki has had to double-check with his vendor to ensure his orders are correct.

Though he doesn't use salmon much — usually for appetizers — Tsukasaki asks his vendor about the fish's grade, size and origin. In the summer, it's Copper River sockeye salmon; in the fall, it's wild Alaskan king salmon.

He steers clear of farm-raised salmon, describing it as "way too fatty." But he's reached out to his vendor in the past to confirm his salmon was wild caught because the color captured his attention.

When it comes to farm-raised varieties, "the color is too good, and that's how you know," Tsukasaki said.

Guaranteeing his fish's origins matters because the price is rising for wild-caught salmon, Tsukasaki said.

"The prices are too high," Tsukasaki said. "To use wild salmon is not easy these days because of the price."

The broader hospitality industry isn't prioritizing salmon mislabeling as a top issue at the moment.

Jeffrey Reading, spokesperson for the Washington Hospitality Association, which represents restaurateurs and others in the hospitality industry, said the group addressed the topic in 2023 after the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reached out in an effort to publicize fish and seafood laws.

The group advised business owners to buy seafood from "lawful and licensed vendors" and to label that seafood accurately for consumers.

Since then, "it’s not an issue any members have brought to our attention with further concerns," Reading wrote in an email, adding that "this isn’t high on the list of concerns industrywide."

Uwajimaya’s president and CEO Denise Moriguchi said her Asian supermarket chain hasn't encountered salmon mislabeling across its four locations, though her team is aware of the problem in the industry.

"If you work with reputable sources that have been around, that have commitments to quality, I'm pretty sure it's a very low likelihood of happening," she said in a phone interview.

Uwajimaya carries both farm-raised and wild salmon, including Chinook, sockeye and coho. The business buys whole salmon, and Moriguchi explained that her team is trained on the differences between fish.

Moriguchi wants customers to "get what they are paying for and what they think they're buying," she said. "I would never want us to have anything mislabeled because we want to be a trusted provider.

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