Report | November 27, 2025
The hidden cost of unlabelled seafood: the risk of consuming unethical and unsustainable seafood in Europe
Europe is one of the most important consumers of seafood globally, importing almost 70% of its total supply, yet close to half of the products sold on the market are not required to provide any information about the species they contain or their origin. This investigation led by Oceana examined how the lack of labelling requirements for many squid products sold in the European Union (EU) conceals potential links to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, human rights abuse, and unsustainable fishing practices. We combined DNA analysis with EU trade data to reveal the hidden risks behind inadequately labelled seafood in Italy and Belgium.
Between March and April 2025, Oceana teams collected 198 squid products sold by supermarkets, fishmongers, and restaurants in Milan and Brussels. Each sample was categorised as fresh or frozen (which are covered by consumer information requirements), prepared and preserved, or sold in restaurants (both exempt from consumer information requirements). The precision of labels was assessed and they were examined for compliance with the EU Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation for fisheries and aquaculture products. DNA barcoding and metabarcoding were then used to identify the species, and the genetic results were compared with EU trade data to trace likely origins and identify potential links to high-risk fisheries.
The findings reveal a market with rampant opacity. Almost half (49%) of the squid products sampled provided no meaningful information on either the species or their catch locations. Even among products covered by the CMO labelling requirements, compliance was inconsistent. Out of 198 products sampled, 48 provided information considered precise enough to identify both the species and geographical catch location; among those, 58% were fresh & frozen products, 37% were preserved and prepared products, and 4% were from restaurants. In restaurants, information was almost entirely absent, even when waiters were queried. These results demonstrate that when labelling is not mandatory, consumers are often left in the dark.
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