Sushinho, the Japanese-Brazilian restaurant on King's Road, London, has done just that, removing all forms of tuna from the menu. From the website:
Tuna is no longer on our menu, as bluefin and bigeye tuna are now endangered and yellowfin tuna is currently being overfished.
We are a young team here at sushinho, one passionate about the future of our oceans and indeed of our entire planet. We feel compelled to do the right thing by offering our patrons the most enjoyable and 'guilt-free' dining experience possible.
Which made me think: should we, the sushi-loving public, be giving up tuna too?
Overfishing is bad. Eating endangered species is just plain silly. Yet you can still find bluefin tuna in restaurants such as Nobu (Japan Times article) and other high-end joints.
Sushinho's decision to do without, while completely admirable, is entirely in-keeping with its sustainable and ethical sourcing vibe -- if anything, the announcement was a great piece of PR (it got me planning a visit, at least). The bigger question is: can traditional Japanese restaurants do the same without losing their reputations for authenticity and quality? As this recent Time article pointed out: 'A lot of restaurants want to stop serving bluefin but feel they can't be caught without it.'
Given this ethical feet-dragging, maybe it's up to us to vote with our chopsticks instead? Unfortunately, even if the rest of the world boycotted the bluefin and its cousins, Japan still consumes roughly three-quarters of the world's bluefin catch, and the country's aggressive lobbying at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) sunk last month's proposed bluefin trade ban.
Even worse, news comes that status-hungry China is nurturing a newly-acquired taste for sushi (CNN video).
A billion sushi-lovers, anyone?
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