Sea Shepherd’s gone and done it again! Despite the marine conservation organisation’s constant (and controversially vigilante-style) work against illegal activities on the high seas, their latest win has arguably affected what the average Hongkonger loves most: food.
With the help of netizens and activists, Gary Stokes, the Hong Kong-based Asia director for Sea Shepherd, has managed to get endangered bluefin tuna pulled from the menu at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in Lan Kwai Fong.
Speaking to Coconuts Hong Kong, the well known conservationist said he discovered the dish while celebrating his wedding anniversary at Bread Street Kitchen with his wife.
The couple had sat down and eaten an appetiser before seeing the “Gordon Ramsay-recommended seared Balfego blue fin loin”, at which point they left. Stokes then sent a letter addressed to the British chef last week, elaborating on the dangers of promoting bluefin tuna consumption.
In the letter, the conservationist asked Ramsay if he was aware bluefin tuna is listed as endangered in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List – the same threat level as pandas, tigers, and blue whales.
“Based on the IUCN Red List, the bluefin tuna is more endangered than both the African Elephant and the Northern White Rhino,” Stokes writes. “Would you have either of these species on your menu?”
The letter that Stokes sent to Ramsay and Dining Concepts
After outlining the three tenets of sustainable fishing (no bycatch, following strict monitored quotas, and enforcement), Stokes urged Ramsay to remove the fish from his menus. He emphasised the importance of Ramsay’s reputation, making the salient point that promotion from “celebrity chefs” drives demand for endangered species.
Instead, Stokes said, Ramsay should play a key role in conservation, and “be responsible” by removing any endangered species from all of his restaurants and future cookbooks.
After a week of Stokes’ fellow animal lovers “getting the message out” on social media, Dining Concepts (the group which manages Ramsay’s Hong Kong restaurants) finally replied today, stating that bluefin tuna has been “removed from all menus with immediate effect”.
Dining Concepts also manages popular eateries Bombay Dreams, Craftsteak, and Braza, to list a few.
Stokes told Coconuts Hong Kong that he was “expecting – no, hoping, that Gordon would [pull the dish]”, as Ramsay had removed bluefin tuna from two of his London restaurants in 2007.
“It seems like [Dining Concepts] didn’t get the memo,” Stokes remarked wryly.
Photo: Gary Stokes/Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Commenting on his success, the conservationist said, “[As a cause], bluefin tuna has kind of ‘died’ quietly in recent years, and it’s almost like people think it’s okay to eat again. Hopefully this will get people to start thinking about it and realise that [bluefin consumption] is unacceptable.”
Ironically, Ramsay himself has hit out at illicit fishing practices in the past, despite the risks it posed to his personal safety. In 2011, he was reportedly held at gunpoint and soaked in petrol while investigating the shark fin trade in Costa Rica.
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