They give a cat for a hare in BCS

With scientific DNA studies, Oceana México discovered that in four out of every 10 dishes consumed in restaurants in Baja California Sur, a state that depends largely on tourism, there is a substitution of fish, that is, you order a fillet of marlin, kingfish, saw or horse mackerel and in exchange you receive local varieties from riverside fishing and at a lower price such as verdillo, leg, cochito and cardenal.

In the specific case of red snapper, which has an average market value of 419 pesos per kilogram, consumers received tilapia, which is mostly imported frozen from China, at a cost of 126 pesos per kilo.

As part of the Gato from the sea until they reach our tables.

The report Deception at the tables, danger in the seas: Gato Rosalía, Mulegé and Loreto, with the collection of 208 fish samples.

To determine species substitution, the commercial name of each sample was compared, through genetic identification, against four open access reference bases that contain common and scientific names of fish in Mexico.

In this way, it was discovered that Los Cabos is the municipality in which there is a highest percentage of substitution: double the world average and is above all the percentages found in other cities of the Mexican Republic, except in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, where substitution in restaurants was 69 percent.

The high levels of substitution in Los Cabos represent a serious impact for the inhabitants of this municipality and for the more than three million tourists it receives annually, who every six out of 10 times they consume fish could receive a different species than the one they ordered. ”says the study.

According to the 2021 Fishing and Aquaculture Statistical Yearbook, the last one published to date by Conapesca, Baja California Sur occupies fourth place in production nationwide by catch volume and fifth place by production value, which shows that The state's fisheries have a strategic role in the national fishing sector.

Oceana México considered that assigning an adequate value to the fishing species that feed us, avoiding substitution and really knowing what we consume, helps responsible, sustainable and transparent fisheries management that prevents overexploitation of the seas.

Of the fish mentioned in this study as substitute species, only the verdillo has a management plan. The rest of the species could also be used with optimal measures that allow their long-term conservation if their social and economic importance is made visible,” he stated.

He highlighted that the substitution of fish also harms the people who are dedicated to this economic activity because their products do not receive the fair value in the market, sustainable fisheries management is difficult and conservation efforts are undermined, which puts the future of fishing activity and the wealth of our seas.

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