2

In the Europe Union, it is mandatory for a seller to indicate where the food is coming from. If fish were caught in international waters, should we consider its origin as the closest country or the ship's flag?

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5

If fish were caught in international waters, should we consider its origin as the closest country or the ship's flag?

Neither. The rules in the (which is no longer in the EU, but I assume they are comparable as they have not been substantially changed since leaving) are:

Fish caught at sea

You must label all fish caught at sea with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) catch area.

You must also label fish caught in the Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean or Black Sea with:

Improve this answer
3
  • Then if we find fish labeled to a specific country (Salmon from Scotland or Shrimp from Venezuela, etc.) it is fair to say they come from national waters?
    – AlixL
    Apr 9, 2021 at 9:25
  • 1
    Possibly, but also look further down on the "rules" link in my answer for the requirements of Freshwater, Farmed, and Mixed Products fishing.
    – user35069
    Apr 9, 2021 at 9:29
  • 1
    I looked at the rules in france (economie.gouv.fr/dgccrf/consommation/Etiquetage-des-produits/…). I can confirm they are exactly the same as in the UK. It seems there is no way to verify the exact origin of fish caught at sea. At best we have a clue of the origin using the FAO map. Thank you very much for your help.
    – AlixL
    Apr 9, 2021 at 15:09

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .