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“We are reaching out directly to the ones where we found mislabelling so they are aware of it, and are working with some to address the issue, “Thornton said.

“Seafood fraud and mislabelling can happen anywhere along the supply chain and we can all be victims of it,” Thornton said. “The objective of the investigation was to show how widespread this issue is and work with the government to improve boat-to-plate traceability.”

Almost three-quarters (33 of 45) of the mislabellings were deemed “species substitutions,” in which, for example, red snapper was listed on a menu or label but tilapia was being sold.

Of nine samples of red snapper tested, none was accurately labelled. Six were, in fact, tilapia (which is typically a third of the cost of red snapper), one was rockfish, one was Pacific Ocean perch, and one was lane snapper, an overfished species, the report says.

The testing also found that of four of five samples of “white tuna” were in fact escolar, an oily fish nicknamed “the laxative of the sea” because it can cause gastrointestinal distress.

Samples were analyzed by TRU-ID, a Guelph, Ont., lab that performed genetic testing to determine the species of fish under consideration.

Michael Radford, executive chef for the Whalesbone group of restaurants, said Whalesbone on Kent Street location was visited by Oceana Canada. “There was initially … some confusion regarding where our cod is from, (but) it was quickly resolved,” he said. “So the Whalesbone establishments were in the clear, as we should be.