Last week in this space I wrote that seafood boycotts have proven successful, to varying degrees, in changing what ends up on restaurant menus and in retail display cases. Consumers, chefs and other seafood buyers wield enough power to permanently change industry practices, but awareness of sustainability, for instance, takes a lot of effort.
There are far more comforting - and far less confrontational - ways to raise awareness about sustainable seafood than boycotts. And it wouldn't hurt to have a good time and eat great food when doing so.
Philadelphia seafood distributor Samuels & Son Seafood is deliciously celebrating environmentally responsible seafood choices. On 20 April at the chic restaurant Redwood in Bethesda, Md., the company will host "Sustainable Wishes & Caviar Dreams," an opportunity for the area's chefs and restaurateurs to learn more about sustainable seafood options and eat them too. Talk about hands-on training.
This is the 16th year Samuels & Son has hosted its annual "Chef's Night Out," with the last couple of them focused on sustainability. Last year's event drew about 400 chefs and other buyers to try seafood products harvested or raised in an environmentally responsible manner. This year's festivities will feature Australian hiramasa (yellowtail) and mulloway (sea bass), Tasmanian and Alaska salmon, Maine crabmeat and farmed sturgeon caviar from California.
"This year we're excited about partnering with Barton Seaver, who's on the culinary forefront of the sustainability movement," says Anthony Medicino, sales executive for Samuels & Son. Seaver, the former chef at Washington, D.C., seafood restaurant Hook, was named a Seafood Champion in 2007 by Seafood Choices Alliance for his dedication and leadership within the global sustainable seafood movement.
"He's such a wealth of knowledge and he's really embraced the subject," adds Medicino. "For Barton and for many other chefs in the D.C. market there is a real commitment and passion for serving sustainable seafood."
Not to be outdone is the South Carolina Aquarium's plans for Earth Day on 22 April. As part of its Sustainable Seafood Initiative, the aquarium and Farringdon Bistropub in Charleston will host a four-course dinner featuring Gulf oysters, local tilefish and more. This event is open to the public for $55 a plate.
The aquarium is right when it says, "Your seafood choices today can ensure healthy fish for the future." It might take much longer than hoped to make sustainable seafood a household word, but taking the message to menu makers and directly to consumers is smart. Feed them and they will come - and hopefully spread the word.
Thank you,
James Wright
Associate Editor
SeaFood Business
April 1, 2009
