FRANCE | Awareness of saving marine resources has become a focus point for the French hospitality sector.
For the ninth consecutive year, the Relais & Châteaux Association has celebrated World Oceans Day with the collective appeal #SOSforBiodiversity. The not-for-profit Association invited chefs to adapt their menus by removing overexploited species, such as eel, and selecting sustainable seafood. To raise awareness of this issue, Relais & Châteaux highlighted the efforts of four chefs who embody this initiative.
"As an Association, we can have a major influence on global culinary culture. It is urgent and vital to serve guests species which are not overfished, or which have been responsibly farmed with respect to the environment, the animals and the people involved," said Mauro Colagreco, Vice President of Chefs of Relais & Châteaux.
According to the group, the figures have been relentless: 35.4 percent of marine resources are overfished, illegal fishing represents 20 percent of the global catch (between 11 and 26 million tons per year), and 35 percent of the world's catch is rejected and released, often resulting in the animal's death without even being consumed.
"Many people think farmed eel is different from wild eel, when, in fact, wild juvenile eels are caught and then taken to be grown on farms. With the critical status of eels all over the world, this form of aquaculture can't be considered sustainable," said Vicky Lau of Relais & Châteaux Tate Dining Room.
Relais & Châteaux Akelarre Chef and elected member of Relais & Châteaux's World Culinary Council, Pedro Subijana, said typical Spanish dishes, such as those with elvers (juvenile eel), were very important to culture and heritage. He added that responsibility, they must go hand-in-hand with tradition.
"We must all pause serving and eating eel now to preserve it for future generations."
In partnership with Ethic Ocean, Relais & Châteaux has empowered its chefs to verify that their species choices are responsibly sourced. This commitment to sustainable seafood has gone beyond eel and has covered all aquatic species, both wild and farmed.
"Our iconic dish has been eel since we opened the restaurant in 2013, but now we've replaced it with smoked herring. Fishing and all other causes of the European eel's decline are issues that we need to be aware of in order to take action," said David Toutain of Relais & Châteaux Restaurant Paris.
Michael Cimarusti of Relais & Châteaux Providence in Los Angeles California, said eel was something that had been on the menu from time to time, but by being a member of Relais & Châteaux and understanding the importance of protecting any species that's endangered, his restaurant has signed the pledge and decided to stop serving it.
"Wild harvested eels are red-listed pretty much all over the world."
To read more international news, click here.
