From CNN
Chances are the fish you buy at the market or order in a restaurant may not be the fish you think.
The label says Red Snapper, but a new study finds more often than not, the label may be wrong. The nonprofit group Oceana found one third of seafood is not what it's billed to be.
Southern California ranks highest in mislabeling. Boston and New York also rank up there on the list.
It's no surprise to Frank Enea, who's worked in his family's fish business for nearly 30 years. He welcomes the study.
"I'm happy that people are looking into it because I'm totally legit and it costs me money to be that way," Enea said. "Because you want to do the right thing. People say our prices are high. They're not. They are what they should be. 'Oh this guy's got it for $10 a pound less.' We'll, there's a reason why. . . It's not real."
His Grey Sole, for example, sells for $35 a pound. He said it's an expensive business and blames lower end stores and restaurants for cutting corners and selling fakes, maybe swapping Red Snapper for Tilapia, which is cheaper.
Oceana tested fish with DNA samples and found that Red Snapper was mislabeled 87 percent of the time and Tuna 59 percent.
MORE: Read Oceana's report on mislabeling fish
What is the source of the problem?
Oceana said it's unclear, because the system is so complex from the time the fish is caught until it's on your plate. Although more than 90 percent of the seafood Americans eat is imported, less than 1 percent is inspected by the government, specifically for fraud, the group said.
The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees food safety, said in a statement to CNN "it screens all seafood imports electronically and some is physically checked depending on potential risks."
It adds that mislabeling has been a concern for some time because it is also a public health risk saying, "the FDA has recently invested in significant technical improvements to enhance its ability to identify seafood species using state of the art DNA sequencing."
Democratic Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts has been trying to pass legislation to improve transparency in the seafood supply chain, saying American fisherman have been undercut by foreign countries and companies.
He said he plans on introducing a new bill to Congress in the coming weeks.
CNN