"Legal Sea Foods" news and stories

Legal Sea Foods' "Blacklisted" dinner just turned a shade lighter with news from Monterey Bay Aquarium yesterday. Current updates to the organization's Seafood Watch guide moved seafood favorites like Atlantic haddock and Gulf of Maine cod from the red "Avoid" column to the "Good Alternative" and "Best Choice" lists after the most recent U.S. stock assessments showed signs of recovery.

"Science isn't static, so we're reflecting these changes in our recommendations to consumers and the major buyers we work with," said Jennifer Dianto Kemmerly, Seafood Watch director in a press release.

The good news is given with an asterisk. Fishing gear counts.

Atlantic haddock, once listed in the "Avoid" column but now considered almost fully recovered off the East Coast, was given a "Best Choice" stamp when caught by hook-and-line methods, and received a "Good Alternative" ranking when trawl-caught.

Atlantic cod stocks may still be recovering from their collapse in the 1970s, but encouraging population counts now means Gulf of Maine hook-and-line Atlantic cod will be given a "Good Alternative" ranking. (A point, Roger Berkowitz of Legal Sea Foods was planning to make at the dinner later this month.)

While it's not exactly Matthew Broderick, Marlon Brando and some tasty Komodo dragon, a "Dinner of Supposed 'Blacklisted' Fish" is being sponsored by the Culinary Guild of New England and Legal Sea Foods.

According to the press release, widespread discussion on sustainable fish "is flawed by outdated scientific findings that unfairly turn the public against certain species of fish. In a direct effort to counter existing misinformation about sustainability, the menu for this event is deliberately designed to serve what is commonly believed to be outlawed or blacklisted fish."

The dinner, scheduled for January 24, in Boston, will feature black tiger shrimp, cod cheeks and prosciutto-wrapped hake. And while all three species are indeed listed in Seafood Watch's red "Avoid" column for reasons that include pollution, loss of habitat, use of trawls, overfishing and depleted populations; we're still trying to figure out what exactly blacklisted means (is it the McCarthy era for fish?), and which specific scientific reports are "outdated." What we do know is the dinner will be led by Legal Sea Foods' president and CEO Roger Berkowtiz, who says he's trying to create more dialogue and push the accuracy of assessments of fisheries.

"I always found it curious that chefs and restaurateurs were the last to get information about sustainable seafood. Oftentimes it was from Monterey [Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program] that blacklisted everything, or a group like Chefs Collaborative -- you get a group of people that work off a particular science, and I would argue that science isn't necessarily balanced," Berkowitz told Slashfood in a telephone interview.