CONNECTIONS: Can Restaurant Chefs Rescue Wild Fish?

With so many fisheries in distress, is the only conscientious choice to stop eating fish? No. Many wild fisheries are well managed, and international regulatory organizations are increasingly making it possible to trace wild fish from boat to plate. So how should we choose which fish to eat? To find out, we reached out to prominent chefs on both coasts.
Why chefs? Because restaurants account for more than two-thirds of the seafood sold in the U.S. Chefs have an enormous opportunity to influence sustainable practices, and have become sympathetic to the plight of the world's oceans. We wanted to know where they turn for straight talk.
Chef Donald Barickman, co-owner of Magnolias, Cypress, and Blossom in Charleston, South Carolina, relies on the buzz between chefs up and down the East Coast and is never hesitant to ask, "Hey, where're you getting your fish?" He monitors announcements from his local Department of Natural Resources and relies on a chapter of the Seafood Alliance facilitated by the South Carolina Aquarium. His menus currently lack the "fish we love down here," meaning snapper, grouper, and wreckfish, because prices are so high; instead, they feature a hodgepodge of wild species, such as tuna, mahimahi, and tilefish. He hasn't purchased Chilean sea bass in years, but he recently started to offer swordfish, now that a few healthy sources have appeared.
Chef Jimmy Schmidt, owner of the Rattlesnake Club in Detroit and Palm Springs, uses only wild, non-farm-raised fish, such as tuna, and seasonal species like yellowtail, chosen for taste and nutritional value. He watches websites, including the National Marine Fisheries Service and Marine Stewardship Council, and relies on his wholesaler, Santa Monica Fish, because its "principles align with ours." Years ago he stopped buying swordfish, smelt, walleye, and king salmon due to over-fishing, mercury, and other pollution-related issues. Diners will find scallops, crab, lobster, and Canadian perch on the Rattlesnake menus, all of which seem to be doing better.

Matt Sutherland

RESOURCES
• Sustainable Seafood Initiative /scaquarium.org/conservation/ssi.html
• Seafood Watch / seafoodwatch.org
• Seafood Choices Alliance /seafoodchoices.com
• Chefs Collaborative /chefscollaborative.org