Hong Kong supermarkets need to do better at labelling seafood accurately, to help protect threatened marine life

Jovy Chan says Hong Kong supermarket chains are miles behind the global industry norm in providing accurate information about their seafood products, which is necessary both for consumer safety and to safeguard threatened species

Reading Time:3 minutes

Golden threadfin bream is sold at a wet market in Wan Chai. A recent survey of Hong Kong’s nine supermarket chains showed that all of them were selling at least one globally threatened species, including golden threadfish bream. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 7:05pm, 20 Feb 2018Updated: 7:32pm, 20 Feb 2018

Hongkongers love seafood, but how many can really identify what kinds of seafood we consume? Accurate and detailed information on labels is critical, not only for consumers, but for retailers: the case last year in Taiwan of a hairy crab sample containing dangerous levels of carcinogenic chemicals shows the importance of correct labelling to prevent food-borne outbreaks.

When consumers purchase seafood in supermarkets, information about species, country of origin and production methods is crucial for them to know if the product is sustainable or not. However, the city’s nine major supermarket groups failed to provide this vital information in 82 per cent of seafood products investigated, according to a survey by WWF-Hong Kong.

DNA analyses by the University of Hong Kong in December 2016 found four cases of possible violations of Hong Kong’s Trade Descriptions Ordinance and one case of overcharging due to mislabelling. Worse, the lack of labelling information may hide the environmental costs of dynamite fishing, illegal poaching or poorly regulated aquaculture practices.

Global demand for seafood is growing tremendously. Billions rely on it as a major source of protein and income. Global production of seafood has increased from 20 million tonnes in the 1950s to 167 million tonnes in 2014, making sustainability of fisheries and protection of resources for future generations a hot topic.

Aeon stores, including this one at Kornhill, have taken the lead in ensuring sustainable seafood procurement. Photo: Paul Yeung

More food could fail Hong Kong metal contamination tests under proposed new rules

Numerous supermarket chains like Marks and Spencer, Migros, Coles and Aeon embrace commitments in their seafood procurement policies to ensure the long-term vitality of species, the well-being of oceans and livelihoods of fisheries-dependent communities. Hong Kong is the second-largest per capita consumer of seafood in Asia and eighth in the world, so our choices have an enduring influence on fishery resources in the South China Sea and global oceans.