WASHINGTON — How can you tell the fish on your plate is exactly what you ordered? It’s difficult, and that’s a problem. 

Large quantities of the seafood imported to the United States are mislabeled — in some cases to deceive consumers into paying high prices for low-quality fish, a study by the environmental group Oceana found.

“It’s very nice to be able to give people a full labyrinth of seafood that is truly from Florida,” said David Moscoso, the chef at Third Wave Cafe in New Smyrna Beach.

Moscoso is passionate about providing an authentic seafood experience for his customers. But, the process of sourcing items on his menu is no easy task. 

“You have to work in-depth and in detail with your fish people,” he said in an interview with Spectrum News. “You may go through one, two, three, four different people, but if you are persistent with it, you go straight to the source as much as possible.”

Moscoso said he’s had to learn the hard way about the mislabeling of fish and false claims about where some fish was caught. Now, he relies on his own inspections to ensure the fish is what wholesalers say it is.

“What I have in front of me today is Vermillion Snapper. You’re looking for a firm texture on the body. You’re also looking for as clear as possible the eyes,” Moscoso said, examining fish in the kitchen of the restaurant. 

Moscoso is one of more than 200 chefs calling on Congress to crack down on seafood fraud. As much as 85% of the fish Americans consume are imported, but the government only closely monitors 13 types of imported fish.

A study two years ago by the group Oceana found one in every five fish not monitored by the program was mislabeled. Two pricier species — sea bass and snapper — had the highest rates of mislabeling. The fraud most frequently occurred at restaurants and smaller markets, and a bill introduced in the House seeks to address that.

“The law would expand the U.S. traceability law. Right now, traceability requirements only cover 40% of U.S. seafood imports, so you can imagine with 60% of imports being left out, it’s really easy to cover up what you’re importing,” said Sandy Aylesworth of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The bipartisan bill would also require fish to be tracked from boat to plate and would ban seafood caught with illegal methods from entering the U.S. It would also clamp down on human rights abuses in the fishing industry. 

The bill has not yet been introduced in the Senate, but Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said he thinks it could help the U.S. fishing industry.

“In Florida, we have a robust commercial fishing sector,” Rubio said. “These are the people who follow the law who are licensed and regulated. I think their business is in danger when people are able to come in and fish and get around those laws.”

Some seafood retailers and trade groups say they fear increased regulation will lead to higher costs that are then passed on to consumers. Moscoso says it’s a price he thinks his customers are willing to pay. 

“At the end of the day, when people go on vacation, at least in Florida, they are willing to pay for quality,” he said. “I’d rather give them that than something imported.”

The Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Act was recently passed out of the House Committee on Natural Resources. It now awaits a full House vote.