Fish and chippiness are on the menu

Legal Sea Foods owner hopes to stir up debate by serving ‘blacklisted’ varieties

January 22, 2011|Devra First, Globe Staff

Guests attending a dinner Monday night at Legal Sea Foods in Park Square will sit down to a meal of black tiger shrimp, cod cheeks, and hake. Billed as a dinner of “blacklisted’’ fish, it’s designed to bring attention — in a provocative manner — to the ongoing debate over what constitutes sustainable seafood.

The dinner underscores the tensions between fishermen who believe regulations are too restrictive and conservationists who feel they don’t always go far enough. It’s a heated issue — at stake are people’s livelihoods and the viability of fish stocks — but now it comes with wine pairings.

An e-mail invitation to the sold-out event, sponsored by Legal Sea Foods and the nonprofit Culinary Guild of New England, reads: “Presenting a menu of supposed ‘blacklisted’ fish, Legal’s President and chief executive Roger Berkowitz discusses how outdated scientific findings unfairly turn the public against certain species of fish.’’

That wording has drawn the attention of conservation groups, chefs, and consumers concerned about the environmental impact of their choices. To some, the invitation reads as though Berkowitz is thumbing his nose at the notion of sustainability.

“What [Berkowitz] has done with this so-called blacklisted fish dinner is very provocative,’’ said Melissa Kogut, executive director of Chefs Collaborative, which works with chefs to promote sustainable food and offers an online sustainable seafood training program. “I wish he did announce the dinner in a way that didn’t denigrate the really useful work of a lot of the ocean conservation groups out there but that really shed light on . . . how a particular seafood choice is sustainable. Legal Sea Foods is very well known and a large purveyor of seafood. What they say, people listen to.’’

Berkowitz said he simply wants people to take a more nuanced look at the issue.

“I can see people having a knee-jerk reaction: He just wants to sell more fish,’’ Berkowitz said. “I’m portrayed as greedy and exploitive, not taking a lead on the issue. But my goal is to educate chefs and restaurateurs about balancing the information they’re getting.’’

The Legal Sea Foods dinner — whose 55 attendees will include fishermen, chefs, marine scientists, writers, and people who are interested in food — offers species frequently included on conservation groups’ “avoid’’ lists. All appear on Legal’s menus, either regularly or as specials.

The shrimp being served are farmed in Vietnam, where that industry has been blamed for past mangrove destruction, pollution, and other ills. But Berkowitz said the industry has improved, and he has inspected the operations from which he buys.