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for fear of losing business or alienating colleagues — opinions varied over how often consumers were duped. One marekt owner claimed he sees the issue every time he goes out to eat and pointed to specific instances when fish were sold as “fresh” and “local” when the species wasn’t even in season. A fisher claimed that some area restaurants secretly serve basa (a farm-raised catfish out of Asia) as halibut or cod or another type of whitefish, and that it’s not unusual for fluke from southern Mexico to be peddled as “local” catch. But other sources said they rarely if ever run into the problem, no matter if they’re in a high-scale eatery along State Street or a fish-and-chip grill on the wharf. Definitions of “local” were all over the map. Some said local CUTTING OUT THE MIDDLE MAN: Urchin diver should mean the catch was made in Stephanie Mutz said the best way to avoid seafood the Santa Barbara Channel or was fraud is to buy straight from the source at the harbor’s unloaded by area boats at the Santa Saturday-morning Fishermen’s Market. Barbara or Ventura harbors. Others said 400 miles north or south of his team of 10 inspectors regulate the county’s S.B. was fair game for the label, noting current retail food establishments, of which there are laws don’t put any geographical constraints on around 2,000. Seafood fraud hasn’t been on the selling point. Whether to call a catch local their radar, and Fay was surprised to learn of or not comes down to the seller’s conscience, the Padilla bill. Upon reading it, Fay believes his team would, if it passes, become responsible for they said. The Independent was able to verify a few making sure that the packing labels on seafood instances of minor fraud in town, but we have in a restaurant’s cooler or freezer match what decided not to publish the names of the offend- it says on the menu. “If there was something ing locations as it’s unclear if it was the work of on a menu or chalkboard, but we couldn’t find a devious chef or owner, or if the discrepancy evidence that that’s what they had received, that simply came down to sloppy signage or an would be a problem,” he explained. uneducated employee. Despite the bill’s “convoluted” wording — “It’s some of the most tortured language I’ve ON THE HOOK seen in a while,” Fay noted — the upshot would Ashley Blacow of Oceana said the fraud study be fairly straightforward. The county’s food came out of the need for a broad appraisal of inspectors try to make unannounced visits to labeling accuracy. Some scientific literature locations at least twice a year to ensure hanexisted on the issue, but nothing on a large dling and safety protocols are up to code, and scale. Blacow and others were surprised at the they focus on anything “that appears to be an high amount of fraud they found and that, as a anomaly.” Though the drop-ins are mostly Southern California resident, she said she was designed to “act as a deterrent,” Fay said cusparticularly distressed by the area’s distinction tomer complaints can also prompt a visit. While checking seafood labels would as the worst offender in the country, the reasons for which remain unclear. While Santa become part of that routine, Fay explained, “It Barbara wasn’t part of the study, “Northern will be a challenge if they really want to be rigCalifornia showed [a 38 percent mislabeling orous.” If passed, Fay said he would first make rate] and Southern California was 52 percent, sure the food purveyors were aware of the new so I think that definitely warrants concern for regulations.“We would be focusing much more on education at first,” he said. “We would take Santa Barbara consumers,” she declared. Blacow said the goal of Padilla’s bill is not for it slow. You wouldn’t bust someone on Day 1.” local health departments — who will enforce But Justin West, head chef of Julienne resthe new law should it go into effect — to test taurant who was also invited to Capps’s harbor every fillet in their jurisdictions, but to do ran- visit, said he’s skeptical about Padilla’s bill and dom sampling and act as a deterrent. The sam- would not be in favor of it. “Speaking from a ples could be DNA tested at county offices or financial standpoint, it’s already hard enough sent off to a lab, and the extra cost of such work for [the county] to keep up with food safety, let would be worth it to protect the ocean and sup- alone having to do label checks,” he said.“We’re port fishermen, Blacow stated. Included in the not the only place that’s way over-restauranted bill is a “safe harbor provision” that lets a restau- and under-inspected. There’s just not enough rant accused of mislabeling deflect liability to humans, not enough money in the budget.” their supplier if they can prove the restaurant West said he sees the fatigue on the face of was simply selling an item under a name pro- his food inspector when she stops by Julienne vided by the supplier. “So it’s very important and that more government intervention is not to maintain accurate paperwork,” said Blacow. the answer to dealing with mislabeled meals. She’s confused why fishermen would be so “It’d be nice if restaurant operators would do concerned over Padilla’s bill, explaining,“They the right thing, because I wish the government would stay the hell away from our food,” would directly benefit from it.” Larry Fay is director of Santa Barbara he lamented. “It needs to come down to the County’s Environmental Health Services at ground level, and people asking questions and ■ the Public Health Department, and he and deciding with their wallets.”
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