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Generic names and mislabelling conceal high species diversity in global fisheries markets

Cawthorn, DM; Baillie, C; Mariani, S

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Authors

DM Cawthorn

C Baillie

S Mariani



Abstract

Consumers have the power to influence conservation of marine fishes by selectively purchasing sustainably-harvested species. Yet, this power is hindered by vague labelling and seafood fraud, which may mask market biodiversity and lead to inadvertent consumption of threatened species. Here, we investigate the repercussions of such labelling inaccuracies for one of the world’s most highly-prized families of fishes – snappers (Family: Lutjanidae). By DNA barcoding 300 ‘snapper’ samples collected from six countries, we show that the lax application of this umbrella term and widespread mislabelling (40%) conceal the identities of at least 67 species
from 16 families in global marketplaces, effectively lumping taxa for sale that derive from an array of disparately-managed fisheries and have markedly different conservation concerns. Bringing this trade into the open should compel a revision of international labelling and traceability policies, as well as enforcement measures, which currently allow such extensive biodiversity to be consumed unknowingly.

Citation

Cawthorn, D., Baillie, C., & Mariani, S. (2018). Generic names and mislabelling conceal high species diversity in global fisheries markets. Conservation Letters, 11(5), e12573. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12573

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 28, 2018
Online Publication Date Jun 22, 2018
Publication Date Jun 22, 2018
Deposit Date May 29, 2018
Publicly Available Date Jun 27, 2018
Journal Conservation Letters
Publisher Wiley
Volume 11
Issue 5
Pages e12573
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12573
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12573
Related Public URLs https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1755263x

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