Eateries to Pull Chilean Sea Bass From Menus

More than 90 restaurants in Los Angeles and Orange counties are expected to pledge to yank Chilean sea bass from their menus in an effort to save the fish from overfishing and possible extinction.

The move, to be announced Tuesday, joins similar pledges made by chefs in Northern California, Chicago and Houston. The “Take a Pass on Chilean Sea Bass” campaign is expected to spread to New York, Philadelphia and Washington in coming months.

The fish became a darling of the seafood industry about a decade ago, after marketers changed its name from Patagonian toothfish. Bon Appetit magazine named it “Dish of the Year” in 2001.

With its newfound popularity, the fish’s ranks in the southern oceans quickly shrank. The fish can take 10 years to grow to sexual maturity and can live to 40. That makes it vulnerable to overfishing, especially by poachers.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, which has the fish on its “avoid” list, estimates the illegal catch of the fish in 1998 was 10 times the size of the legal haul. Advocates warn current fishing levels could spell extinction for the fish in as little as five years.

Michael Cimarusti, executive chef at the Water Grill in downtown Los Angeles, said once diners are educated on how imperiled the Chilean sea bass is, they will choose other fish as substitutes.

“Most consumers wouldn’t go out and buy California condor on a menu if they saw it,” said Cimarusti, referring to the endangered bird. “If people knew that [Chilean sea bass] was in a similar state of peril, they would lay off it.”

Chefs will gather Tuesday at the Water Grill to announce they will stop serving Chilean sea bass until regulations are in place to prevent its extinction. They are expected to display substitutes for the fish, which is praised for its white, flaky meat. Cimarusti recommends striped bass, Alaskan halibut or mahi mahi.