The Future of Fish

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cheflivengood

cheflivengood

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As a chef I was always fond of working with and cooking fish, more like obsessed. From age two I was forced to eat sushi once a week until it was my favorite day of the week. This being said, after delving deep into sushi research for a potential restaurant, I found myself feeling guilty about using an already scarce resource, and the more I read about the populations of major fish species and the affect over fishing and over farming can have on the planet, I stopped eating fish all together, and as much as people want me to put shrimp and salmon on my menu I will never do that. What do you, the chefs and non industry folk alike, think of these articles and the future of seafood in not just america but the planet, because the ocean is its own big ecosystem.

http://ideas.ted.com/should-you-stop-eating-fish-2/



http://www.takepart.com/feature/2016/06/09/bluefin-tuna-decline?cmpid=foodinc-fb
 
I think cooks and chefs that really understand fish are exactly the people that could develop the best non-animal textural/flavor alternatives to use in traditionally fishy dishes:)
 
LifeByA1000Cuts said:
I think cooks and chefs that really understand fish are exactly the people that could develop the best non-animal textural/flavor alternatives to use in traditionally fishy dishes:)
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Sorry, but NO!!!!!! No substitutes. Just take it off the menu.

And i agree, Australia has some serious issues with over fishing. I love fish, but don't eat it a lot, and agree it does need to be managed a lot better than it is.

Perhaps farming should be something that is looked into.
 
For me the issue is also educating the dining public about eating more sustainable and less threatened species, as well as managing and enforcing species quotas.
We have plenty of lesser known species of fish which are equally delicious as more "mainstream" varieties, but we always have trouble convincing people to try a fish they haven't heard of.
 
Von blewitt said:
For me the issue is also educating the dining public about eating more sustainable and less threatened species, as well as managing and enforcing species quotas.
We have plenty of lesser known species of fish which are equally delicious as more "mainstream" varieties, but we always have trouble convincing people to try a fish they haven't heard of.
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Like carp fish stew/curry for us Canberrans
 
It's a really hard issue. I'd be interested in hearing some of the sushi chefs here chime in.

I've been working in a Japanese restaurant here in Chicago that has a sushi team/kitchen (although I don't do sushi and I am on my way out). We get the best fish I've ever seen in my life - which is funny being in the Midwest and having lived on all three coasts (Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf). There's definitely a strong Gold Rush attitude... meaning, the thought is "well, if we don't serve these species/fish, all the other restaurants in the world still will, and the consequences are going to happen regardless." So we keep feeding into the cycle. We've literally had whole tuna stolen by other purveyors at O'Hare... it's nuts.

Profit margins in the restaurant business are so slim to begin with. If you're in a restaurant that does sushi it's even more so. The general public only feels comfortable spending X amount for nigiri or maki when in reality we should be paying much more.

And it's tough because the whole art/craft/tradition of sushi is extremely attractive. Working with fish is maybe the most sexy (and delicious!) thing you can be doing in a kitchen. The fish station is almost always at the top of the hierarchy on the line because it takes a lot of skill and care to do well.

It also sells. People want to go eat at seafood restaurants, high-end or not, and people also want to cook that food. It's definitely a very near-sighted approach.
 
Tall Dark and Swarfy said:
On a related note, it's an interesting story that the late Reverend Sun Myung Moons Unification Church has the sushi industry locked down from building the boats to intermarrying with Americans to gain fishing rights to the sushi wholesalers, True World Foods. Not making any sort of a statement other than it's interesting.

http://www.unification.net/1980/800713.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/chi-0604sushi-1-story-story.html

Cheers,

Rick
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Moon is freaking nuts...I try not to order from true world. I'll even make the 4 hour round trip to buy fresh fish directly from fishermen in Boston. And I also agree with Von Blewitt, there are tons of lesser known varieties out there that are great.
 
Aren't there fish that good to eat and can be sustainable harvested as well? Lionfish is supposedly an invasive species that are taking over the seas and can do with some harvesting. Only thing is you have to be careful with the poisonous fin rays.
 
@malexthekid using bad alternatives kills the dish, refusing good ones kills the fish.

Just that there is far less knowledge on how to do it yet... integrating eg tofu into the framework of a chicken or pork dish, or eg gluten into the framework of a beef dish are, as far as dishes that define the protein (opposed to ones that are definined by it!) go, by now well known methods where only skill limits the result. Far more tricky and obscure with fish... yes I am aware of "mock shrimp" and similar products, but I am not looking at anything a cook cannot make in a kitchen here - these things tend to deserve "substitute" as an epithet far too often :)
 
I have been avoiding any fish caught by long lines where due to the process so much by catch is killed .
I try not to eat much Apex predator pelagic fishes like swordfish and tuna mostly plate sized more sustainable fishes
As many stated there are so many tasty fishes they don't get the attention they deserve so when I go fish market to eat at home thats what I would be looking for first
In restaurant environment it is such a big challenge to sell a rather unknown fish
 
Jelly fish is the future. Over fishing is causing their number to explode. Jelly fish are the locust of the ocean
 
The UK charity, The Marine Conservation Society, provides excellent information on fish, fishing and eating http://www.goodfishguide.org/

I should have consulted it before buying those sprats last week: http://www.goodfishguide.org/fish/285/Whitebait

We have a 'pocket good fish guide' stuck to the fridge... looks like I should actually have it in my pocket!

See also https://www.msc.org/cook-eat-enjoy/fish-to-eat

"The Marine Stewardship Council is an international non-profit organisation established to address the problem of unsustainable fishing and safeguard seafood supplies for the future."
 
Reminds me how everyone here on the east coast seems to avoid Bluefish, apparently abundant in the region. Yet you go to restaurants and find Grouper, Sea Bass, Cod and Salmon. When we lived in CT once a year thousands of Bluefish came right to the beach, the water looked like it was boiling from so much movement. My neighbor used to grab the fish right out of the water with his bare hands...
 
alterwisser said:
Reminds me how everyone here on the east coast seems to avoid Bluefish, apparently abundant in the region. Yet you go to restaurants and find Grouper, Sea Bass, Cod and Salmon. When we lived in CT once a year thousands of Bluefish came right to the beach, the water looked like it was boiling from so much movement. My neighbor used to grab the fish right out of the water with his bare hands...
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I love bluefish
 
on of my fav book/documentary was 'end of the line'. It made me realised that farmed fish isn't any bit better for the environment/ecosystem then most people think it is
 
Bluefish has always been something to go after for the fun of it around here, but never really for eating. People did eat it a bit when I was a tadpole, but once they were allowed to legally catch rockfish again everyone seemed to punt on the bluefish.
 
Question - even with sustainable fishing practices, is the intention to be able to meet for example current consumption levels?
I don't buy meat or seafood almost ever for home cooking, but definitely understand the bind restaurants are in because of competition with other restaurants to have a diverse menu and put out quality dishes.
A fair bit of the discussion has talked about more upscale capacities like for sushi or in seafood restaurants which are usually not so cheap, but there is also the cheaper mass produced side of things like frozen cod fish sticks, canned seafood, and the like, which I'd imagine account for a significant amount of overall consumption.
 
The "cheap, mass produced" side of things is two faced with all animal products: On one hand, it makes sure the literal "whole hog" is used. On the other hand, it economically encourages CAFO practices that are about the lowest animal welfare standards you can get away with.
 
Ive been weening my cat off of fish, which even though I buy very expensive (for cat food) caned food, its still probably big drag net caught albacore or salmon. The thing with low and high quiality land animals is that even an awfull McDonald owned "ranch" is still a micro ecosystem, there could still be a very heritage, well cared for group of animals 20 miles away having had no affect by the industrial **** hole. The ocean is one large eco system so weather its a blue-fin or mass caught anchovies destined for Cesar dressing in a shenanigans it all has an adverse effect. sorry its early...does that make sense?
 
Ironically, fishing would be likely the MOST ethical method of gathering animal-based food if it wasn't overdone ...
 
Animal where ability to feel pain and fear is controversial vs animal where it is NOT.

@cheflivengood basing your diet on fish would be, not your occasional fish. See "overdone" (as in overfished, not overcooked ;)
 
If only someone in the US could convince people Asian carp are good eating. We could do with fewer of those in the water.
 
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