Santa Monica Seafood, the largest specialty wholesale distributor of fresh seafood across both the Southwest and Midwest, has partnered with the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) for a six week promotional campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of sustainable fishing.
Each week through to Thursday July 27, the Santa Monica Seafood Market & Café will spotlight an ASC-certified item and producer. The store will offer limited-time specials that "feature crafted dishes highlighting the certified seafood of the week, all aimed at helping seafood lovers taste and learn more about the positive impacts of responsible aquaculture."
To mark the occasion, a reception was held at the store located 1000 Wilshire Blvd on Thursday evening, where Michael Cigliano, Executive Vice President at Santa Monica Seafood, said, "We’ve been in business since 1939 and look forward to being in business for another 84 years. It’s very important for us to protect our oceans and protect its resources. And that’s what we’ve always had an eye on, we need to restore balance to the sea."
Overfishing of the world’s oceans was tragically inevitable, but the full scale of the problem only became common knowledge about 30 or so years ago. Atlantic cod have been nearly fished to extinction and while Atlantic halibut might not be listed as "endangered," their numbers are still frighteningly low as bottom trawlers catch the seafloor-dwelling fish, destroying the young stock and thus preventing any replenishment of the population.
In 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration listed bluefin tuna as "endangered" as the population was near historical lows. However, numbers have increased slightly since then.
The six week initiative is being broken down into three, different twice-rotating ASC-certified product promotions. From June 16-22 it is trout by Riverence Provisions and again from July 7-13, from June 23-29 it’s shrimp from Del Pacifico Seafoods and again July 14-20 and finally, from June 30-July 6 it is salmon from Kvarøy Arctic and again from July 21-27.
CREDIT: Curious Plot
"We’re here tonight really to raise awareness of how much this industry has transformed in recent years and also the companies behind that transformation," said Eric Davis, from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. According to Davis, over half of all seafood consumed around the world is now farmed.
"You simply can’t feed the world on wild caught. You can’t. You need to have a sustainable protein for the growing global population. So you have to have aquaculture as part of the mix. But when aquaculture is growing, not all farm seafood is equal," Davis said.
"We highlight numerous other initiatives, events, holidays, relationships, and food species throughout the entire year. While we spotlight responsible seafood year-round, we wanted to give a deeper emphasis over the next six weeks to highlight our partnership and the impact we are making together," Roger O’Brien, President and CEO, Santa Monica Seafood said, adding, "This summer is the perfect time span to create a sense of timeliness and importance to the benefits of ASC-Certified seafood. We want our customers and the communities we serve to benefit from all the special activity we bring to our two retail stores."
Among the mouthwatering, drool-inducing dishes that will be available there will be, Del Pacifico shrimp ceviche aguachile (with red onion, cucumber and lime), Kvaroy Arctic salmon tartare (with capers, cilantro and wonton crisps), Riverence sautéed steelhead (with rosemary, thyme and crispy skin), Del Pacifico grilled shrimp skewer (with sweet chili lime sauce), Kvaroy Arctic glazed salmon (with white miso, scallions and sesame seeds) and Riverence pan roasted steelhead trout (with cauliflower puree and micro-basil).
Since 2010, ASC has been creating and enforcing the strictest standards for ensuring supply chain integrity from the farm to the store. Its "sea green" label only appears on seafood from farms that have been independently assessed and certified as environmentally and socially responsible. For more information visit us.asc-aqua.org/
