An investigation into the shark meat sold at fish and chips stores has found the majority of retailers are mislabelling their produce. Eleven of the 23 Melbourne fish and chips shops examined by Greenpeace were found to be selling the overfished school shark despite advertising it as the sustainable gummy shark or 'flake' - a term that is only meant to be used for gummy shark or New Zealand's similar rig shark. Less than half of the stores, which had samples of their raw fillets DNA tested by the University of Canberra in September last year, were found to be accurately labelling their 'fish'. Greenpeace has investigated the shark species used by 23 Melbourne fish and chips shops as part of their campaig for restaurants to reveal the origin and type of their seafood . One of the restaurants labelling their fillets as gummy shark was found to be serving rig shark while another which was advertising flake was unable to be identified. 'Aussies are being sold 'fake' and chips, not flake and chips because of Australia's shoddy labelling laws,' campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said. 'Australians are being kept in the dark about where their seafood comes from, the type of fish they are eating, and how it reached their plate.' The results have formed part of the campaigning organisation's argument for the federal government to improve Australia's food labelling laws, demanding that they include a requirement for restaurants and take-away stores to declare the country of origin of their food. Eleven of the 23 Melbourne fish and chips shops examined by Greenpeace were found to be selling the overfished school shark (pictured) despite advertising it as gummy shark or flake . Greenpeace claims that current legislation does not require them to identify the fish type or origin. Its research further suggests that at least 80 per cent of the squid and octopus sold in Australia is caught overseas from overfished origins while two thirds of the popular fish type barramundi is brought in from Asia. Great concern has also been placed on the fate of many 'orange roughy' fish, which despite being managed through conservation efforts in Australia, is often sold under different names at various restaurants. Less than half of the stores, which had their raw fish DNA tested by the University of Canberra in September last year, were found to be accurately labelling their 'fish' as gummy shark (pictured) or flake . 'It is not possible for consumers to make an informed decision under these conditions — a situation that may result in negative environmental and health outcomes,' Ms Pelle said. 'Australians deserve labelling laws that tell us what fish we're eating, where it was caught and how it was caught.' To find out more about Greenpeace's Label My Fish campaign, visit labelmyfish.com.
Eleven of 23 Melbourne fish and chips shops sold overfished school shark . This is despite them advertising their fillets as gummy shark or flake . Less than half of the stores were found to be accurately labelling their 'fish'
Fillets were DNA tested by the University of Canberra in September 2014 .