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A quarter of Brussels restaurants serve at least one species of fish listed as in danger of
extinction, according to a survey.
Bluefin tuna, European eel and Atlantic halibut are all species classified as threatened with extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature yet they are served daily in Brussels restaurants, including many patronised by Europe’s legislators.
For the first time, MEPs, ministers and officials, as well as visitors to the city and its inhabitants, have been given the information to set a better example by where they choose to eat.
The survey shows that as many as half of all Brussels restaurants may serve endangered fish –a staggering figure - but the information offered to the consumer by a further quarter of restaurants about species and sourcing is so poor and unhelpful that it is impossible to say for sure.
Fish2fork, a campaigning online sustainable restaurant guide, examined the menus of 76 Brussels restaurants, many of them within walking distance of the European Parliament and the offices of the European Commission.
Some 26 per cent of restaurants confirmed that they served at least one of the three most endangered species of fish –bluefin tuna, eel and halibut -but the figure could be as high as 50 per cent because many restaurants did not identify clearly the origin or species of some of the seafood on their menus.
Research shows 82 per of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited or overfished, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, yet a disturbing number of overexploited species are eaten in Brussels, including cod, swordfish, wild Atlantic salmon, tropical prawns and wolfish.
Fish2fork found that five Brussels restaurants scored red for every one that scored blue, according to its rating system. In the UK, the proportion is now three blue restaurants for every two red. France also has a higher proportion of blue restaurants according to those Fish2fork has surveyed.
Charles Clover, founder of the Fish2fork sustainable fish restaurant guide, said: “There may be cultural reasons, such as the Belgian fondness for the critically-endangered eel, why so many Brussels restaurants score so very badly for sustainability.
“But I suspect Brussels has become such a ‘red fish’ zone for sustainable seafood because businessmen, politicians and officials from all over the EU order things that they would eat at home, thus concentrating in one place all the unsustainable trends of Europe, now the world’s largest consumer of fish. There may be an element, too, of visitors enjoying the guilty pleasure of eating things they would be ashamed to order at home, a kind of rare dish tourism.
“Fish2fork hopes that shining a light on the consumption patterns in restaurants patronized by Europe’s law-makers and lobbyists will drive demand for better labelling and for more sustainably-produced fish.”
Fish2fork’s survey found that a lack of information about the provenance of seafood was compounded by confusing terminology. ‘Thon rouge’, for example, can mean either bluefin tuna or yellowfin tuna at French-speaking restaurants, making it difficult for customers to avoid the more endangered bluefin. And while Atlantic halibut is regarded as unsustainably fished if taken from the wild, those bought from farms are considered to be sustainable, so knowing the provenance is vital.
Of the restaurants surveyed by Fish2fork, 27 per cent appeared to serve the critically endangered European eel, with 11 of the 76 surveyed restaurants confirmed as doing so.
Anguille au vert, eel in green sauce, is a national dish in Belgium but, according to seafood guides compiled from official scientific stock assessments by the Marine Conservation Society and WWF, the plight of the fish is so serious that the recipe should be off the menu until stocks recover.
Disturbingly, several restaurants were under the mistaken impression that they were buying domesticated eel that had been farmed from the egg – but the species has so far proved impossible to breed in captivity and those that are grown to maturity in “farms” are originally taken from the wild, often with high mortality Of equal concern was the extent of the use of Atlantic bluefin tuna in Brussels where several restaurants were unaware that the species population, now listed as endangered by IUCN, has slumped by at least 51 per cent in the last 30 years. Other restaurants were aware of the bluefin’s plight yet still felt that they must respond to what they saw as customer demand.
Up to 6 per cent of restaurants also served salmon caught from the wild which is regarded by Fish2fork as a fish to avoid. Other fish of concern served in Brussels include sharks, sea bass, sea bream, skates and rays, turbot and brill.
Nevertheless, the response of some Brussels restaurants to Fish2fork’sresearch inspires a degree of optimism. Three restaurants, Willards,La Quincaillerie and La Marée, dropped eel from the menu when contacted by Fish2fork and Coco Eat took bluefin tuna off the menu. Others promised to reconsider their policy on endangered and overfished species and some, including Fish2fork’s champion and highest scorer, Le Zinneke, have already put in place policies that keep threatened species off the menu.
Le Zinneke and its 4 blue fish rating sets an example to the whole of Europe. Among the measures it took to ensure its record on sustainability was to keep eel and bluefin tuna off the menu and to buy fish that almost without exception are certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Among those also commended with blue fish were
Quincaillerie, Côté Sushi Bruxelles, Willards and Coco Eat.
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