As Some Restaurants Ditch Bluefin Tuna, Innovative Dining Group Dishes Them Out

by Jessica Belsky · 2011-03-16 07:06:00 UTC
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With the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) not doing much at all to protect the majestic and dwindling bluefin tuna, foodies and chefs are coming to the fish's aid just in time.

With an 80 percent decline of bluefin in recent years and with the Gulf oil disaster sullying the fish's prime  spawning grounds, something had to be done. Towards the end of last year, conservation non-profit Center for Biological Diversity started the Bluefin Brigade as part of its bluefin tuna boycott campaign. The group has been asking eaters to pledge to avoid the fish and the restaurants that serve it.

The Brigade recently took to the streets to bring attention to an important connection: Consumers decide the extent to which bluefin will be fished. If eaters stop ordering the fish, restaurant owners would no longer justify buying it, and if sushi joints stop buying the fish, fishers would have no lucrative incentive to catch bluefin. They certainly do now. The bluefin is so threatened that it may not last the amount of time it will take the fishing and regulatory community to come up with appropriate regulations, so it's up to us to take matters onto our own plates.

Because of the Brigade, some restaurant owners and food personalities are stepping up and agreeing not to serve the critically endangered fish. Check out the growing list of restaurants here. Even Food Network's Iron Chef America has enacted a ban. I mean, you wouldn't eat an endangered rhino, so why would you eat bluefin tuna?

Even with more and more restaurants and chefs refusing to serve bluefin tuna, the scales still tip against the threatened fish. Hip sushi spots continue to serve the species despite its drastically low population numbers. Innovative Dining Group (IDG), for example, owns six restaurants (five Sushi Rokus and Katana) that continue to offer bluefin tuna. IDG's management needs to hear from you as a consumer. Sign our petition, and let the company know that bluefin tuna don't belong on any of its restaurants' menus.

Photo credit: kawanet via Flickr

Jessica Belsky is a freelance writer and communications manager at an environmental non-profit.

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