By Bill Daley
Chicago Tribune (MCT)

Chef Kara Brooks had to make a decision. She had built up a “green” reputation at her Still River Cafe in Eastford, Conn., with a menu of local, seasonal and sustainable products. Now she debated whether to add a Hawaiian farm-raised yellowtail marketed as a sustainable fish under the Kona Kampachi label. She finally did it.

“Sometimes it makes sense to sell something sustainable from the South Pacific rather than something from Long Island Sound that will be gone in three years,” she said.

Growing numbers of chefs and home cooks across the country are thinking along the same lines. Overfishing is threatening to wipe out entire species — Brooks calls it “cooking to extinction” — while fish farming can wreak environmental havoc if not done right. Many chefs and some home cooks are turning to underused and underappreciated species of fish, some of which is called “bycatch” because fishermen don’t go out specifically looking for them and these “other” fish get caught in the process.

Chef Susan Spicer of Bayona Restaurant in New Orleans has famously championed bycatch on her menus, introducing guests to sheepshead and tripletail, among other little-known fish.

“Diversity is always desirable, whether in farming, fishing or community,” she said. “If we just eat or grow the same things all the time, the variety dwindles and goes away, and we are left with three kinds of potatoes, or only a choice between tilapia and Atlantic salmon. Variety truly is the spice of life, and it’s paramount to sustaining our resources for future generations.”

One issue is getting folks to bite when offered a little-known or once-maligned fish at the market or in a dining room. Sardines, for example, are enjoying a huge image makeover now as chefs take a shine to their flavor, abundance and low price. Spicer said Americans are open to trying new kinds of fish and shellfish because they’ve spent the past 30 years learning about ingredients, cooking different cuisines and exploring all aspects of food.

“Sometimes they just need the introduction that chefs can provide,” she added. Following the green path isn’t always easy. Chefs and consumers alike sometimes have to parse the question of sustainability right down to the reputation of the provider, just as they do with produce at farmers markets. Brooks said consumers also have to do research, ask questions of their fishmongers and suppliers, and cope with seasonal swings in availability. And they can look for the “Best Choice” designation from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program (seafoodwatch.org).

“Part of the equation is being more agile in the kitchen,” said Bruce Sherman chef of Chicago’s North Pond restaurant and chairman of the board of overseers for the Chefs Collaborative, a national group working on sustainability issues. If he can’t find sablefish one day, he said, he needs to be flexible and find another green fish. “We can’t let that stop us from dealing with the issues.”

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