Nobu Tells Patrons Not To Eat Bluefin Tuna Sushi, But Of Course Serves It Anyway - Mongabay

[hatrack]

Last year, Nobu was caught red-handed serving critically-endangered bluefin tuna to patrons, even after servers claimed its tuna was not bluefin. Now after heavy criticism, the trendy restaurant, owned by Robert DeNiro and popular with celebrities, has finally taken action.

It hasn’t removed bluefin tuna from its menu, as demanded by many environmental organizations and as its competitors have done. Instead, it has added a warning to the menu. An asterix next to its bluefin tuna dishes leads the patron to a message from Nobu on the bottom of the menu, which reads: "Bluefin tuna is an environmentally threatened species – please ask your server for an alternative."

Media outlets are describing the decision as ‘bizarre’, full of ‘mixed-messages’, and even ‘indefensible idiocy’. The very wording is strange in that bluefin tuna is not ‘environmentally threatened’, but ‘critically-endangered’—an important distinction.

"Eating bluefin tuna is as bad as digging into a tiger steak or gorilla burger. It is entirely unacceptable that Nobu, or any restaurant, is serving an endangered species, and it must stop immediately if the species is to be saved from extinction," said Willie Mackenzie, Greenpeace UK Oceans Campaigner when the organization discovered Nobu was serving bluefin last year. In a recent study The World Wildlife Fund found that unless the bluefin tuna fishery closes entirely, the fish will be functionally extinct in 3 years.


EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0527-hance_nobu.html

[phantom power]

1. Alternative

[hatrack]

2. Mmmmm!!! Lip-smackin'!!!!

:eyes:

[phantom power]

3. We were at a restaurant recently, and my wife asked me...

what species of fish on the menu were on the latest "overfished" list. I explained to her that as far as I could tell, all of them were.

:evilfrown:

[hatrack]

4. Beyond wild Pacific salmon species, damned if I know - I know shrimp and shark are no-nos

And bluefin, of course . . .

Tilapia's OK, though - good thing I like it.

[GliderGuider]

6. I've stopped eating fish altogether

The wild ones are overfished and aquaculture is an environmental and ethical nightmare on a par with beef feedlots. IMO there is no defensible reason to be eating fish any more.

[frazzled]

5. Better ask what species are on the latest "mercury-laden" list

Equally important, imo

[GliderGuider]

8. There's a difference

The mercury in the fish threatens us. The fact that we're eating endangered fish threatens them.

The welfare of other species must factor into our decisions more than it does at the moment.

[belpejic]

7. Good online resource on seafood

From the excellent Monterey Bay Aquarium:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=27

[AndreaCG]

9. Eat more vegetarian and vegan meals

It's kinder to the animals and to the planet. If you can't go totally veg, try twice a week no meat/poultry/fish days. Encourage restaurants to serve more and better meatless dishes.