Written by Natalia Freitas for Atuna.com
Sushinho became the first high-end sushi restaurant in London to abolish tuna completely from its menu last week. Although one can say that not many options for sourcing sustainably caught tuna were considered by Sushinho, the decision represents the current paradox many restaurants face when trying to go sustainable, to the point that giving up and scrapping tuna off menus becomes easier than finding reliable and traceable sources.
Atuna.com spoke with Sushinho’s head chef, Michael Taylor, about the challenges in assuring sustainable tuna that lead to the drastic decision.
Atuna.com: What tuna species did Sushinho serve before the decision to remove them from the menu was made?
Michael Taylor: Yellowfin and bigeye tuna, before. We had the sashimi grade and the cooking grade, but never used bluefin tuna though.
Did you know exactly where your supply of bigeye and yellowfin came from?
You can never say 100% sure where exactly it came from. The Japanese fish supplier we had was out of question, quite hard to get any information from. However, we have another fish supplier, for other species other than tuna as well, which was really good. But they could not tell, 100% sure, where the tuna came from.
Was the lack of tracking systems for tuna an important factor to the decision?
Definitely, we could never tell exactly where it came from. We didn’t talk to our Japanese supplier about taking tuna off the menu though, we just did. However, we spoke with our other supplier who is also very into sustainability and it’s part of some organizations, so they get audited, but they don’t provide us tuna. For us it was more like a moral obligation, for what we believe. We want to see tuna back in the menu once the species is sustainable and the stocks recovered.
Are you saying that Sushinho will wait until all tuna stocks in the world to be considered sustainable or that the restaurant management would be willing to put it back on the menu if proven to come from a sustainable source with full traceability?
I really doubt that will happen in a foreseeable future because tuna farming is still a very difficult procedure and stocks are generally very depleted, so it will take many years to come back to normal. The tuna species that are in a health state, such as skipjack, are not really used for sashimi, only for canned tuna. Even yellowfin tuna cannot always be used for sashimi. So, it’s one fish, bigeye tuna, which is supposed to be enough for everyone in the world. Therefore we are going to stick behind what we believe and hope that our kids have the chance to eat tuna in the future. I love tuna myself, it’s a fantastic fish, but we will not be able to provide it anymore.
There are yellowfin and bigeye fisheries in
We would have to do some research on MSC or any other organization offering that possibility, but in this case it would be really difficult for us to get our tuna from the States. So there are pros and cons; buying something from far away doesn’t make it great, does it? If there was a supplier around here would be fantastic. Nevertheless, we are not using tuna because it differs us from the lot as well, it shows commitment to environment. We are not in a rush in putting it back on the menu.
So you believe that there are no convenient options right now?
Yes, plus it is only one fish, only one species that needs to be protected. For us is a challenge, since we have to be in charge ourselves of what we can do on the menu to compensate for it. We will never be able to replace tuna, but we can offer an exciting menu that people will enjoy even though tuna is not there. I think it’s a good thing if we can survive without it.
Could you share some of the changes?
Well, nothing can replace the texture tuna offers, so I cannot tell you one particular fish that would compensate for it. It is more about the whole menu itself, which can still be attractive without it. Salmon and kingfish are great fishes and still there.
How long did it take to make the decision in removing tuna from Sushinho’s menu?
About three months, I believe. We watched a couple of documentaries such as End of The Line (by Charles Clover), got in touch with my suppliers, did some research on Greenpeace’s webpage and some other British organizations that had information online of what sustainable means, doing our studying. Then we came to a decision. We are just trying to do the right thing.