Business Toolbox: Marketing
Chefs take to high seas in adventure tours

Lindblad Expeditions has partnered with the Chefs Collaborative to launch Chefs-at-Sea, a new program for the Lindblad on-board experience.

 The Chefs Collaborative is a network of more than 1500 chefs and culinary professionals from across the U.S. who are devoted to sourcing and cooking with local and sustainable ingredients. Through Chefs-at-Sea, guests aboard Lindblad's fleet of ships will learn from award-winning chefs, in presentations and demonstrations, or market visits. This program brings to life culinary history, practice and art, focusing on the growing trends in local and artisan cuisine.

The Chefs-at-Sea program is a natural extension of Lindblad Expeditions' (LEX) ongoing efforts to inform guests on food choices. Since LEX's inception in 1979, the company has had an unwavering commitment to conservation and the environment, with a mission of exposing guests to issues impacting the special places where the company travels.

 In recent years, LEX has worked to bring this same philosophy to the shipboard menus by focusing on the tangible relationship between the destinations visited, the local culture and the foods served and by building awareness among our guests about the environment, our planet and the sustainability of food. – Restaurant News

Tuesday, April 22, 2008P

The crab population in the Chesapeake Bay is collapsing, and it will take drastic measures to restore it to normal levels. That fact is driving unprecedented efforts by Maryland and Virginia to limit the crab harvest.

 Both governors have pledged to reduce the taking of female crabs by 34 percent. More limits, some draconian, are almost inevitable if the fishery is to be rescued.

 That's bitter mustard for watermen, who have seen their livelihood suffer in the past few decades. The annual harvest once reached 100 million bushels; last year, it was about 44 million; this year, early signs are it will be even smaller.

 The reasons are complicated. Over fishing is part of it. But so is the degradation of the Bay, which has been fouled by nutrients that leave it devoid of oxygen. The loss of sea grasses, where juvenile crabs hide, has been another factor.

 Far more simple is the result: In 2008, the $125 million crab industry is reeling, and a way of life is threatened. Watermen are reasonably and rightly frustrated by being asked again to bear the burden.

 Much of the damage wasn't done by fishermen, but by sprawl and farmers and industry. By limiting the crab harvest, argue the watermen, they are being asked to pay for the sins of others. Worse, their suffering won't solve the problem.

 There is truth there. Both Maryland and Virginia have spent millions to clean up what their citizens put in the Chesapeake. Given the size of the problem, neither has done nearly enough.

 The result is a Bay that is not much healthier now than it was a decade ago; and with both states facing lean times, there is little prospect of finding the money they need. The lack of progress on Bay cleanup, the subject of a 2000 agreement between the surrounding states, has been a consistent frustration for environmentalists, law-makers and watermen.

 But watermen have been the only ones asked to sacrifice much. Despite that, the crabs are still disappearing, along with native oysters. If things don't change in the watershed, the watermen will be gone with the species on which they depend.

 Maryland and Virginia are working to delay that. By protecting crabs, they hope to ensure the long-term survival of the fishery. At some point, though, the states surrounding the Bay will have to acknowledge that it's not the crabs, or the oysters, or even the water-men who need saving. It is the Chesapeake Bay itself. – Virginian-Pilo

In his new book, "Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood," Taras Grescoe points out that "shortly after the turn of the century, shrimp surpassed canned tuna as the most popular seafood in the United States."

 Canned tuna versus shrimp? No contest.

 Unlike most finfish, shrimp has a distinctive snap in texture and a relatively mild sweet taste. No wonder, as the National Restaurant Association reports, that with shrimp "the overwhelming favorite," Americans are eating more seafood than ever.

 Sadly the oceans can't keep up. According to the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank, more than half of the world's fish stocks -- including shellfish -- are "fully exploited." So even though demand is increasing, any increase in harvest would threaten their ability to recover their numbers. Worse, about 24 percent of fish stocks are "over-exploited," that is, depleted below healthy levels or attempting to recover from depletion.

 So it was quite heartening to learn that Oregon pink shrimp (Pandalus jordani) are doing well enough to be formally certified as "sustainably harvested" from the Marine Stewardship Council. Headquartered in London with regional offices in Australia and Seattle, the council has certified 26 fisheries to date, with more than 1,000 eco-labeled seafood products sold in 35 countries, but Oregon pink shrimp is the first shrimp fishery in the world to be certified.

 Most of the small shrimp sold in the Northwest are Oregon pink shrimp.

 The council's Americas regional director, Brad Ack in Seattle, filled me in on what it took for the Oregon Trawl Commission to win certification for these shrimp.

 In terms of sustainability, farmed shrimp present one kind of challenge and shrimp harvested from the wild present another.

 About 90 percent of shrimp eaten in this country are farm-raised, most from countries where environmental standards are slacker than ours. The marine council for now limits its scope to wild-caught seafood, but other seafood monitoring groups like Blue Ocean Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium's "Seafood Watch" warn against purchasing imported farm-raised shrimp because of environmental hazards associated with the farming practices.

 "About 3.7 million acres of tropical coastal mangroves have been converted to shrimp farms," reports Seafood Watch. "So much waste builds up in the farm ponds that the farmers have to move on, leaving the water polluted and mangrove forests destroyed." Shrimp farmed in the U.S. are "a good alternative" to imported farm-raised shrimp.

 Some wild shrimp, though, are not a good alternative. Harvesting techniques employed by many shrimp fisheries unintentionally but routinely lead to capture and killing of other sea creatures, including sea turtles.

 That's where the marine council comes in. Originally a joint venture between major seafood buyer Unilever and the World Wildlife Fund, the now-independent council sets standards for fisheries to earn its eco-label.

 In the case of Oregon pink shrimp, the State of Oregon, which manages the fishery, already limited shrimp permits, closed the season during the stock's reproductive period, and required by-catch reduction devices. The marine council added requirements for annual audits to gauge sustainability of the fishery.

 Any Oregon pink shrimp product now is eligible for the council's eco-label, but not all stores have signed up to display the logo (which requires a cost to the store), says Brad Pettinger, director of the Oregon Trawl Commission. Whole Foods is one chain that will carry the blue eco-label. Elsewhere, if you don't see either the logo or clear labeling of the shrimp as Oregon pink, Pettinger advises asking your fishmonger where the shrimp were caught.

 These small shrimp, sometimes referred to as bay or salad shrimp, are typically sold individually quick frozen, so they're available year round (and fresh between April and October), but I think they're at their best in salads for spring. At my house, we like to toss them with a little tarragon-flavored aioli and tuck them inside a steamed artichoke. – Greg Atkinson writing in The Seattle Times

Wednesday, April 23, 2008P

ANNAPOLIS – The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) proposed new recreational and commercial harvest regulations to help rebuild the Chesapeake Bay blue crab population and fishery. The proposed regulations are designed to reduce female blue crab harvest by 34 percent in 2008.

 “We must take action today to ensure that Maryland’s iconic blue crab and the economy it supports continue to be important parts of our culture for generations to come,” said Governor Martin O’Malley.

 “The historic cooperation and coordination between Maryland, Virginia and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission has created an unparalleled opportunity to protect and restore our shared blue crab resource.  By working together, we will protect the most biologically important blue crabs from the beginning of their migration until they spawn in late spring and summer.”

 The proposed emergency regulations for the 2008 Chesapeake Bay commercial blue crab fishery include an early closure to the season for harvesting female crabs and catch limits on female crabs earlier in the fall

  “Protecting female blue crabs by reducing recreational and commercial harvests represents the best opportunity for the quickest rebound,” said DNR Secretary John R. Griffin. 

 The current abundance of adult or reproductive-age blue crabs is 120 million crabs, only slightly above the established minimum safe threshold of 86 million reproductive-age crabs, is 70 percent lower than 1990 levels and well below the conservation target of 200 million crabs.  – Press release

Rock star Paul McCartney called on fish-eating 'vegetarians' to give up all seafood for Earth Day.

 The meat-free former Beatle has issued a statement urging the world to go veggie for the greenest day of the year -- and he's also targeting those who call themselves vegetarians, and then eat fish.

McCartney wants to remind everyone that the commercial fishing industry is killing off fish species which are vital to the environment.

He says, "Unfortunately, many people seem to think that vegetarians eat fish, but this is not so. – PR-inside