Celeb chef Ramsay ditches bluefin, Japanese urged to follow suit

Email Print

LONDON    ( June  7, 2007 ) Japanese consumers are being urged to stop eating endangered bluefin tuna after a celebrity chef with restaurants in Japan decided to take it off all his menus.

Gordon Ramsay, who has two dining rooms at the Conrad Tokyo hotel, has decided to take the endangered fish off the list at all his outlets across the world following pressure from the Marine Conservation Society.

Over the last few years in Britain, several restaurants specializing in Japanese cuisine have taken bluefin tuna off their menus amid growing concern over dwindling stocks caused by over-fishing.

Bluefin is coveted for sushi and sashimi and around 80 percent of the world's stocks are consumed in Japan.

Environmentalists are hoping Ramsay's move might prompt Japanese consumers to give up their beloved bluefin for more environmentally sustainable fish.

Bryce Beukers-Stewart, from the MCS, told Kyodo News, "We would like to see the demand for bluefin tuna reduced in Japan. They are eating an endangered species, just like eating a tiger or rhinoceros.

"There are plenty of sustainable alternatives such as yellowfin tuna. It's a much better choice and makes good sushi."

Ramsay is a three-star Michelin chef who has proved to be very successful in Britain. He has also built up lots of Japanese fans in London, hence his decision to branch out into Japan in 2005. In Tokyo, his two restaurants focus on preparing French food. Ironically, his Tokyo restaurants have only ever used yellowfin tuna "because bluefin is neither environmentally nor financially viable," according to a spokeswoman.

One of his popular dishes in London was the $170-a-head carpaccio of bluefin tuna and swordfish with brown butter.

Alternatively, diners could have had the bluefin starter with roasted cep tartar, caviar, basil puree and spring onions.

But his company said in a recent statement that "following increased concern about the risks posed to stocks of bluefin tuna, Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd. removed all bluefin tuna from dishes on its menus across all restaurants in the group."

The statement added that yellowfin tuna would, where appropriate, be used instead and every effort would go into sourcing environmentally sustainable fish.

This was something of a publicity coup for the MCS as Ramsay hosts popular TV shows in Britain and the United States where he berates novice cooks.

But this is not the first time a restaurant has taken the endangered fish off the menu.

In 1999, the "Moshi Moshi" chain of Japanese restaurants in Britain removed bluefin following concerns about the decline in stocks.

Managing director Caroline Bennett told Kyodo News the initial decision did not go down particularly well with customers who relished the bluefin toro (the tuna's fatty belly).

However, she said that, over time, diners have supported the move and, for now, they are using yellowfin tuna.

She said, "In questionnaires in our restaurants customers place a high priority on the environment and environmental sustainability."

Beukers-Stewart said some other chain restaurants, such as Yo!Sushi, were now advertising that they only worked with environmentally sustainable products.

Bluefin is probably now confined to the upmarket Japanese-owned restaurants in Britain.

"Consumers in Britain have become particularly aware about the issue of sustainability over the last two years," Beukers-Stewart added.

The MCS has issued a list of 43 "fish to avoid" either because their stocks are dangerously low or the method of fishing leads to other species becoming adversely affected.

In most cases, consumers are advised to avoid fish from certain oceans, rather than there being an outright ban. People are urged not to buy the northern, southern and Pacific bluefin tuna.

Beukers-Stewart said British supermarket chains generally avoided selling all the fish on the list, but there were one or two exceptions.

For more information on the fish to avoid see http://www.fishonline.org.

The European Union recently decided to reduce the amount of bluefin tuna it catches in the Mediterranean following concern over stock levels.

© Kyodo News, 2007