Edible San Diego

Like Fish to Water
Cooks Confab Looks to “School” San Diegans on Sustainable Seafood
By Brandon Hernández

Many San Diego chefs are doing their individual parts to help combat the over-harvesting of our ocean fisheries, but one group of local gastronomes has banded together to take this initiative to a new level. Cooks Confab, a close-knit contingent of chefs fused together by common ideals, pooled their energies to realize the first San Diego Sustainable Seafood Week from May 31 through June 6, 2010. It's a new idea based on longtime concerns.

"I have always had a close relationship with and great respect for our oceans," says Andrew Spurgin, Confab member and executive chef of Waters Fine Catering. "It was the mid '90s when I became aware that not all was as it should be. I did some research and what I unearthed was truly troubling: fishery collapses, mercury, reckless fishing practices, piracy, protein relocation from third world countries to first, communities around the world breaking down because of loss of livelihood."

Trey Foshee, executive chef at George's at the Cove, agrees. "[For me], it started probably 15 years ago when I noticed the size of certain fish I was using starting to get smaller, and it's been a constant learning process ever since."

The goal of Sustainable Seafood Week is to extend that learning process to the general public via a series of events such as a catered screening of the documentary End of the Line at Fibonnaci's and a sustainable seafood stakeholders' panel discussion at the Hotel Del Coronado organized by Slow Food Urban San Diego and Passionfish (www.passionfish.org), a nonprofit educational organization co-founded by Spurgin in 2000.

And, of course, it wouldn't be the Confab without a grand-scale food event. This is scheduled for June 6 at 1500 Ocean to feature roughly a dozen unique dishes utilizing only nonendangered varieties of fish and shellfish. Additionally, all Confab restaurants are offering prix fixe sustainable seafood menus throughout the entire week.

Such fare is more the norm than the exception for these eateries.  Case in point is 1500 Ocean. "I've committed to serving only those fish that meet certain standards and requirements," says Chef de Cuisine Brian Sinnott. Among those oceanic gems are wild Alaskan salmon, sablefish, wild Dungeness crab, responsibly farmed mussels and oysters and products like hiramasa and laughing bird shrimp that are produced by Clean Fish (www.  cleanfish.com), a company that sources sustainable seafood from around the world.

"Our power to change comes from the pressure we can put on our suppliers and by turning people on to species that are sustainable [such as] sardines, white sea bass, petrale sole, halibut and local yellowtail," says Foshee. "We do train our staff to understand sustainability issues and they are prepared to answer most questions."

But concerned consumers can find plenty of information on their own.

"Simply checking out the Monterey Bay Aquarium website (www.montereybayaquarium.org) and Blue Ocean Institute (www.blueocean.org) allows consumers to quickly see what fish should be avoided for consumption. These sites are very easy to use and navigate, especially via cell phone or pocket guides," says Sinnott.

Adds Spurgin, "Take initiative to educate yourself. Seafood lists are a help; they're a start-[but] ask questions, be inquisitive, be involved, care. With more people asking for responsibly sourced seafood, that is what the industry will do."

Brandon Hernández is a native San Diegan with a passion for the culinary arts and the local dining scene. He has been featured numerous times on the Food Network hit program Emeril Live, regularly contributes to over a dozen national and local magazines, newspapers and online outlets and has authored and co-authored several cookbooks. Follow him at twitter.com/offdutyfoodie or drop him a line at deepcrimson2008@gmail.com.

(Recipes for Olive Oil-Poached Alaskan Halibut, Meyer Lemon and Basil-Crusted Sierra Mackerel, and Australian Hiramasa Crudo are in the Recipes section of this web site.)