Governor of California, Jerry Brown. (Photo Credit: State of California Department of Justice)
The Governor of California, Jerry Brown, vetoed a bill intended to criminalize the selling of mislabeled seafood.
The decision to stop Senate Bill 1138 represents a loss to lawmakers who pursued several high-profile efforts this year to give Californians more information about what they eat and drink, The Sacramento Bee informed.
Despite stressing the assets this bill intended to achieve, Governor Brown explained its drawbacks.
“Much of what the bill seeks to accomplish is good,” Brown wrote in his veto message for Senate Bill 1138. “Requiring seafood producers and wholesalers to identify whether fish and shellfish are wild caught or farm raised, domestic or imported – these are reasonable and helpful facts for purchases to know.”
“Requiring more precise, species-specific labeling of seafood, however, is not as easily achieved,” he added.
According to the Governor, this legislation – intended to combat widespread fraud in California’s seafood supply chain -- would “create uncertainties and complexities” by requiring businesses to identify fish by its “common name.”
“Let’s continue to work to give California consumers information that will help them make wise decisions,” Brown wrote in his veto message.
However, the Governor praised the bill’s proponents for helping policymakers to better understand the health and sustainability impacts of seafood consumption.
Senate Bill 1138, sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla, had been passed to addresses the growing problem of seafood mislabeling and its effects on public health, consumer choice, and sustainable fishing practices after noticing that California’s law did not provide clear guidance regarding accurate labeling of seafood and that the lack of standards had led to high rates of mislabeling throughout the state.
This bill had received the support of Oceana, the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation, who carried out a survey and revealed that half the tested seafood sold in California is routinely mislabeled.