Chilean Sea Bass Smugglers Are Flooding Markets with Illegal Catch

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities along the West Coast have seized more than 600,000 pounds of suspected illegal Chilean sea bass in recent weeks, a US$10 million haul that environmentalists say reflects a thriving black market trade in the delicate, tasty fish.

Illegally caught and often routed through more friendly foreign markets to disguise its origin or capture, the high-priced delicacy is a popular target for pirates in the South Pacific and Antarctic oceans. As a result, stocks are dwindling.

In a report set for release Tuesday, the National Environmental Trust blames regulation loopholes, sophisticated smuggling techniques, and overburdened border enforcement for the illegal trade.

"There is no way for restaurants, grocery stores, or consumers to know that their Chilean sea bass is legal, so we encourage Americans to continue to take a pass on it," said Andrea Kavanagh, director of the trust's sea bass report team.

Served up in restaurants as Chilean sea bass, the slow-growing, cold water fish is more properly known as Patagonian or Antarctic toothfish.

In reviewing seven months of detailed shipping industry data on U.S. imports of the toothfish, the environmental trust found shipments of the frozen fillets often were mixed with other seafood, which makes it difficult to identify.

The National Environmental Trust said signatories to Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources must strengthen regulations limit imports to make poaching more difficult.

Andy Cohen, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration northeast enforcement office, said Monday that increased enforcement has taken a bite out of the illegal toothfish trade, but it remains a major problem. There's a good chance that restaurant customers ordering Chilean sea bass are eating illegal toothfish, he said.

Source: Associated Press