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Following Italy's lead, this year, France has committed to a ban on fishing for red tuna in the Mediterranean in 18 months, i.e. after the next two fishing seasons. This is a long time for a species that is threatened with extinction in the short term. The economic arguments of the fishermen are easy to understand. They make a good living from their catch, 80% of which is directly exported to Japan, where red tuna is one of the most sought-after fish, eaten raw in the form of sushi or sashimi and known as Maguro. At top restaurants, the most renowned French chefs have already partially responded to the issue, including Olivier Rellinger (Les Maisons de Bricourt, Cancale, France), a seafood specialist and vice chairman of the prestigious Relais et Châteaux hotel chain: "since January, 60% of the 475 hotels in the chain, located in 57 countries, have stopped serving red tuna. As for the others, we will make their names public so that they may bear the full force of their irresponsibility," he warns. The Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens (London, GB) has supported a campaign against the overfishing of endangered species since 2009. For red tuna enthusiasts, there is little hope to be found in fish farming: tuna does not readily breed in captivity; young adult fish need to be captured to fatten them up. For red tuna, there is hope in the form of its future inclusion on the endangered species list. Chefs, who are at the heart of the problem, are now numerous in wanting to play their part in the respect of the environment and are using their imaginations to create alternative recipes. Even Japanese restaurants are adapting and diversifying their sushi et sashimi by using salmon, stickleback, bream, cuttlefish, mullet, mackerel, scallops, clams, eel, etc.  There are plenty of possibilities that use non-endangered species.

http://www.maisons-de-bricourt.com/
http://www.tomaikens.co.uk/