Wharf chefs saving the seas

It does not just predict a lack of cod and tuna on our plates, but a total destruction of our marine life leading to environmental disaster - with seafood resources collapsing by 2048.

The film has already changed the way fish is viewed by retailers. Pret a Manger, which has five stores on the estate, has vowed to change its practices.

Marks and Spencer has reassured customers about the way it catches fish and Waitrose commissioned a YouGov poll on sustainable fishing and urged the public to think about what they buy.

That survey found 64 per cent of those asked did not know about the shocking state of our seas.

Waitrose managing director Mark Price said: "The booming human population could wipe out fish stocks within this century if we don't act now."

Pret a Manger founder Julian Metcalfe decided to change his company's tuna policy after watching the film.

The company has now vowed to use skipjack tuna rather than yellowfin or bluefin.

While the stores say they are leading the way in saving our oceans, the Wharf's leading fish restaurants say sustainable fishing has been on their agenda for a long time.

David George, chef at The Gun on Westferry Road, which runs the Mediterranean fish restaurant A Grehla every summer, said: "We only use sustainable fish and we try to use only line caught cod.

"Our fishmonger has his policies to use what's readily available and not over-fished.

"I don't want to do anything that damages things in the future, so I speak to my fishmonger two or three times a week."

He said the declining numbers of cod persuaded him to use other types of fish and the customers are more than happy to try the alternatives.

He said: "Attitudes are changing for the better.

"We're trying to use fish like pollock and whiting instead of cod."

It is a similar story at The Curve restaurant in the Marriott West India Quay.

There, Chef Jolly said customers were becoming more knowledgeable about the plight of the seas and the industry was responding accordingly.

He said: "Restaurants and chefs need to be more aware as they are catering to well educated customers.

"The modern day customers are globetrotters who care about the environment.

"They have a good awareness of green issues and we have to acknowledge that."
He also keeps in close contact with his suppliers and said it was important to remain flexible.

He said: "We recently changed our scallops because it was exposed by the media that the way they caught these ones was by dredging, which scraped the sea bed and hampered the marine life.

"We changed to black pearl scallops, which are more sustainable.

"I have to look at food costs but having said that I'm spending £3 extra each kilo because it's more important to be sustainable."

What the Waitrose survey said:
- 83 per cent want restaurants to buy sustainable fish.
- 80 per cent want supermarkets to buy sustainable fish.
- 72 per cent of Londoners are unaware the bluefin tuna is as close to extinction as the white rhino.
- 64 per cent say they don't know about the state of our seas.
- 63 per cent of Londoners are likely to make sustainable choices.
- 49 per cent are unaware fish stocks could be wiped out this century.
- 44 per cent of Londoners are willing to pay more for sustainably sourced fish.

What they say:
- Waitrose Managing Director Mark Price
"We want everyone to ask where their fish is coming from - to make sure we're not stealing fish from future generations."
- Paul Willgoss, M&S head of technology
"Every time customers walk into an M&S store they can be rest assured that whether they buy a tuna sandwich or a tuna pasta bake, it has been made using pole and line or line-caught tuna."
- Pret a Manger founder Julian Metcalfe on changing the company's tuna policy
"We could lose some customers in the short term, but I do feel they will eventually come back as they understand what it is all about."