Wary diners ask: Is fish from China?

No doubt for consumers, much of this is confusing.

Mark Wolfe, a resident and frequent restaurant patron in the nation's capital, says he never considered the lineage of the piscine course. "I'm thinking about it now," he says. "You know that farm-raised salmon is questionable. Now, what are we supposed to do?"

That type of confusion is causing diners to avoid the ocean side of the menu at Cucina D'Angelo in Boca Raton, reports chef Angelo Morenilli. Patrons are not ordering as many shrimp dishes because of concerns about Chinese seafood, he says. "The big news has stuck in their minds, and now they ask where the fish came from," Mr. Morenilli adds.

Over in San Francisco, Susan Nagy says she's horrified at how many times she and her husband may have eaten shrimp from China. (Only 7 percent of shrimp sold in the US is imported from China.)

"Now, I have to think twice before I will purchase or order it," she writes in an e-mail. "I am wary of shrimp now even if it's not from China."

Ms. Nagy notes that it's becoming more common for restaurants to inform diners of where fish were swimming when they were caught.

That's the case at Hayes Street Grill, where a recent menu included the local catch, "Steve Fitz's Half Moon Bay Sand Dabs." The menu notes that the item was caught using a Scottish seine, which is supposed to create the least disturbance to the ocean floor.

San Francisco restaurants "are the pioneers of the informational menu," says Patricia Unterman, chef and co-owner.

Americans 'don't pay attention'

Yet for the most part, "We usually don't pay attention to where our food comes from," says nutrition professor Carol Johnston of Arizona State University.

That's the case in New York, where John Southerland, a visitor from Huntsville, Ala., had a shrimp cocktail at Spark's Steak House. He didn't ask where the shrimp came from, but he remembers the restaurant "as the place where the mobster got shot out front."

Even restaurant personnel may need some prompting on fish origins. Take Hale and Hearty Soups, a chain in New York City. At one of its locations in Manhattan, it has a shrimp creole soup on the menu. One of the staff says she has no idea where the shrimp came from since the soup is made in a central location.

The website for Hale and Hearty gives the calorie content of the shrimp soup, but no indication of where the shrimp came from. "Good question," says Simon Jacobs, CEO of the company. "I don't know, but I'll call our supplier to find out."

A day later, Mr. Jacobs e-mailed that his purchaser believes the shrimp come from Ecuador, which is one of the largest sources of farmed shrimp in the West.

On a recent day, the Ear Inn had a shrimp dish on its blackboard of specials. "Where do the shrimp come from?" the bartender is asked. "The purveyor," she replies.

"No, what body of water?"

"Oh, who knows," she answers.

"Maybe the chef?" the other suggests.

"He wouldn't have a clue, I guarantee it," she declares.

The shrimp are from Thailand, says the owner, Mr. Sheridan.

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