$1 Million Fine for False Seafood Labeling

The sentence stemmed from the conviction of Seafood Solutions on July 25, 2011, on a single count of trafficking in fish knowing that the fish had been transported and sold in violation of the U.S. Lacey Act.  Specifically, the fish was Pangasius hypophthalmus, a species in the catfish family that were misleadingly labeled as “Paradise Grouper” and “Falcon Baie Grouper.”   Seafood Solutions was one of three defendants named in the same charging document.   

According to the plea agreements, in approximately June 2004, Seafood Solutions began to sell a fish it declared to customs as “ponga.”   The fish being imported as ponga was Pangasius hypophthalmus, a species in the catfish family.   The fish was then sold under the brand names, and in boxes labeled in part as, “Paradise Grouper” and “Falcon Baie Grouper.”