A online petition has surfaced urging Roger Berkowitz, president and CEO of Boston-based restaurant chain Legal Sea Foods, and Carrie Richards, president of the Culinary Guild of New England, to halt what it deems are “baseless attacks” on sustainable seafood initiatives such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program.
The petition was posted on Change.org by Marce Gutiérrez, a member of the California Sustainable Seafood Initiative advisory panel.
“I am writing to ask you to stop standing in the way of ocean conservation, stop name calling and open a real dialogue with all stakeholders,” said Gutiérrez. “Science-based sustainable seafood programs have been at the forefront of practical conservation, combining marine protection and industry principles to create market-based environmental solutions. Baseless attacks on sustainable seafood efforts are detrimental to ocean health and long-term industry viability.
“We need more practical solutions like the sustainable seafood programs and guides, not empty attacks,” she added.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 65 people had signed the petition.
The petition stems from a dinner the New England Culinary Guild and Legal Sea Foods, a 30-restaurant East Coast chain, is hosting at Legal’s Park Square location in Boston on 24 January. The four-course dinner features so-called blacklisted species, including black tiger shrimp, hake and cod.
According to Legal, the event is intended to educate consumers about sustainable fisheries and to dispel misinformation about species commonly pegged as unsustainable. But it has drawn fire from the environmental community as a misguided effort.
Click here to view SeafoodSource Editor Steven Hedlund’s commentary on the subject, titled “Tongue in cod cheek.”
