Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Retailers, Chefs Promote Bristol Bay Salmon Run


Eighty top restaurants and more than 3,200 retailers nationwide are hosting a rolling wave of events through mid-October featuring Bristol Bay sockeye salmon.

From bakeries to restaurants and lodges, chefs are showcasing their creativity and commitment to the Bristol Bay fishery with events ranging from one-night special tasting menus and month-long specials to dinner and a movie screenings of the Bristol Bay documentary “Red Gold.”  The events were coordinated in partnership with Chefs Collaborative (www.chefscollaborative.org) a national nonprofit chefs network that educates seafood buyers and chefs about sustainable seafood.

Chef Kevin Davis of Seattle’s Blueacre Seafood, a participating chef, said he is a huge fan of Bristol Bay sockeye. “This is a beautiful fish, we love to serve it, and it is a crime against nature that anyone would consider building a copper mine where these fish reproduce year after year,” he said.

Retailers are promoting Bristol Bay sockeye at their seafood counters with custom point of sale materials urging customers “to protect wild salmon for the future by eating one today.” Promotional materials include posters, recipe cards, stickers, ice-spears and brochures.

Bob Waldrop, executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, said the association has two goals in this educational effort.

“First, we want people to understand that thousands of independently owned fishing businesses are involved in this highly successful and completely sustainable salmon fishery,” he said. “We are proud beyond words to be the current stewards of this amazing natural resource. And second, that Bristol Bay’s salon runs and our livelihoods are under direct threat from a large-scale copper mine that can still be stopped.  We need people to be aware of that and we need them to take action.”

The effort has attracted support from restaurants from coast to coast, including some in Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Boston, Washington D.C., New York, Atlanta and Newport, RI.

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