Fairmont Hotels and Resorts is taking Chilean sea bass and bluefin tuna off its menu as part of a greater sustainability initiative.
About 18 months ago, the Toronto-based, 56-unit international luxury hotel and resort chain launched its “Green Cuisine” program, a corporate-wide initiative to purchase local and sustainable cuisine whenever possible.
“Seafood is just an extension of that green commitment,” said Mike Taylor, public relations manager at Fairmont.
To that end, Fairmont executives have determined that bluefin tuna and Chilean sea bass are “two seafood choices that are most at risk,” according to a company statement, and should be taken off the menu. The decision to remove the two items was based somewhat on guest feedback, said Taylor.
“Due to worldwide popularity of [Chilean sea bass, the species’] numbers have been dwindling dramatically from illegal and aggressive fishing,” said a Fairmont statement. Meanwhile, bluefin tuna is so heavily overfished that the World Conservation Union lists Southern bluefin tuna in its list of “most threatened wildlife,” according to Fairmont.
In addition to removing the two species, executive chefs and their teams at each of the hotel’s restaurants will seek out local and sustainable suppliers, and the hotels’ menus will identify items that are “responsible seafood choices,” according a Fairmont statement.
“Each of the hotels will be working with local organizations to determine the types of species and fish they should or should not be serving,” said Taylor. For example, Fairmont’s Vancouver properties will be working with Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Watch program.
The seafood that executive chefs deem to be threatened or sustainable will vary from area to area. Fairmont operates hotels in several countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico and England.
“One fish may not be threatened in the Atlantic, but it is threatened in the Pacific, for example,” said Taylor.
