ALACHUA COUNTY - Experts call it fish fraud.

A recent non-profit has released a study about where the fish you eat comes from, and an expert we spoke to helps identify and prevent this fraud.  

LeeAnn Applewhite says since 80% of all fish we eat in the United States is imported, so it's sometimes hard to know where your fish comes from.

She helps distributors test their suppliers, to make sure they are getting the fish they paid for, and consumers are getting the fish they asked for.

Kyla Ryan: Is this a big problem?

LeeAnn Applewhite, CEO and founder of Applied Food Technologies: "In the past few years it has been a case of economic fraud and in the last year there have been instances of food safety problems."

Applewhite's lab was the first to use DNA markers to identify fish species by.

She primarily works with suppliers, but says that consumers should ask restaurants if they test their suppliers' fish.

She says problems also arise because fish have different names around the world.