Chinook salmon being taken off menus in effort to help whales
Posted October 2, 2018 11:42 pm.
Last Updated October 3, 2018 7:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SEATTLE (NEWS 1130) – A popular food item may appear on menus less and less in an effort to save the whales.
A new movement has seen restaurants and other food providers put a stop to serving Chinook salmon — the main food source for southern resident killer whales.
“I just didn’t feel that it was necessary, or even right, to compete with [whales] on a fish that I did not need to eat to survive,” says Renee Erickson, Chef and Co-owner of Sea Creatures, which operates 8 restaurants in Seattle that have stopped offering Chinook salmon a number of weeks ago.
“There are other beautiful fish that are available to us, which we’re really fortunate to have, so it’s not that big of a sacrifice.”
It was a tough summer for the southern resident killer whale, with the death of a calf that was subsequently carried by her grieving mom, J35, for weeks and many followed the efforts to save ailing J50, before her death last month. More recently, another whale, K25 has been losing weight.
RELATED: Grieving orca won’t let go of calf
Erickson says the removal of Chinook salmon has been well-received by customers and the only push back has come from some fishermen and skeptics who doubt the move will make a difference.
“I do believe there’s hope, they’ve been low before in numbers. I think there’s other problems that they’re facing as well obviously but it’s one thing that we could do that was immediate,” says Erickson.
“For us to not be supporting pulling Chinook out of the Salish Sea while these fish were feeding and trying to reproduce.”
The movement appears to be catching on. A Seattle food co-op has recently stopped selling Chinook salmon at its markets and Vancouver-based meal delivery service Fresh Prep has removed salmon off its menu.
“An animal that is so iconic to the northwest and trying to make decisions that can hopefully encourage their survival is amazing,” adds Erickson.
The southern resident killer whale population currently sits at 74.
Related video: Not Enough Salmon For Endangered Orcas
