Sustainable seafood?
By Mary Brown Malouf
01/20/10 - 02:12 PM
So Michael Bauer, SF Chronicle food consciousness, blogs today about Fish2Fork's online guide rating seafood restaurants according to their sustainability efforts.
It's a drop in the bucket, of course—it only covers about 50 restaurants in 14 states—and needless to say, Utah is not one of the 14. There aren't many restaurants specializing in seafood here, which makes sense—except for the bewildering sushi surplus, seafood is pretty much owned by the Market Street restaurants.
I know that chef Tosh Sekikawa and Johnny Kwon of Naked Fish have sustainability in mind, but as Kwon himself admitted, if you're trying to serve traditional sushi, you've defined yourself right out of most sustainable practices from the get-go. Sushi fish is seriously over-fished. It's hard to see how some of the other sushi factories, depending on low prices and high volume, could even pretend to consider their sources.
In fact, the bottomless American appetite, and our tendency to overeat everything, might make sustainable fishing practices unsustainable from a business point of view. It's a national habit to measure food's quality by its quantity.
Market Street restaurants have made a pretty mighty effort in the last couple of years to educate foodies, journalists and the public about fishing issues. They've offered special presentations about shellfish and the ones I've been able to attend address the problems of over-fishing, farmed seafood and clean waters. Do they practice what they preach? We just don't know. How can consumers make a difference if they don't have the facts?
I wonder how local restaurants would measure up according to fish2fork's rating system...Any of you willing to take the plunge into transparency?
About This Blog
A lack of serious ambition, a love of cooking and a degree in Latin naturally led to a career in food writing for Mary Brown Malouf.
Her 25 years of experience has included stints as executive editor of D magazine in Dallas, Texas; executive editor at wine.com in Napa, California; and restaurant critic for The Salt Lake Tribune.
Now, she’s the dining editor for Salt Lake magazine, where she writes about the food scene in Salt Lake City and beyond. Check in regularly for the latest restaurant news, great products from local purveyors, and conversation about all things gustatory.
If you have news, tips or other information about the dining scene you'd like to share, email Mary.
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Reader Comments:
I don't know if I could give up sushi to go 100%. And, isn't wild caught better for you and the fish? Minus the Russian fishermen and poachers...