TABLE OF CONTENTS “Seafood Watch” Press Kit Click on headings below to get directly to a specific release within the press kit. 1. “Seafood Watch” main news release 2. “Seafood Watch” fact sheet 3. “Seafood Watch” Spanish card news release 4. “Cooking for Solutions 2006” main news release NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For information contact: Electronic media: Mimi Hahn (831) 648-4918; [email protected] Print media: Ken Peterson (831) 648-4922; [email protected] ‘SEAFOOD WATCH’ PROGRAM HELPS CONSUMERS, SUPPLIERS PROTECT OCEAN WILDLIFE THROUGH SEAFOOD CHOICES People once thought that ocean fisheries could never be exhausted. They were wrong. As seafood stocks come under increased pressure worldwide, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has developed a Seafood Watch campaign to help consumers, restaurants and retailers choose seafood from well- managed fisheries—a buying decision that can preserve the health of ocean wildlife. Since its debut in 1999, the Seafood Watch program has grown to include five regional pocket guides featuring popular seafood items found in all areas of the United States; a Spanish-language pocket guide; online resources for individuals, business and conservation organizations; and support materials to help businesses and Seafood Watch partners make sustainable seafood a part of their everyday activities. Through the Seafood Choices Alliance, the Seafood Watch team works to broaden awareness of the links between the seafood we eat and the health of ocean wildlife populations. By partnering with zoos, aquariums, science centers and conservation organizations, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has put more than four million Seafood Watch pocket guides in the hands of consumers over the past four years alone. Tens of thousands more pocket guides are downloaded each year at www.seafoodwatch.org. Through the efforts of Seafood Watch and other organizations, major seafood purveyors including Bon Appétit Management Company (with 150 corporate, university and institutional clients nationwide), Delaware North and Xanterra (food service concessionaires to national and state parks nationwide), and Whole Foods Market (retail supermarket chain with more than 150 outlets) have embraced the move to sustainable seafood. Other retailers, seafood distributors and restaurateurs are changing their buying habits as well. Seafood Watch grew out of a 1997 review of the aquarium’s own seafood-buying practices completed before the opening of a special exhibition about the environmental impacts of fishing and aquaculture. Visitors began asking for the aquarium’s sustainable seafood recommendations and the Seafood Watch pocket guide was born. -more- SEAFOOD WATCH – MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM – Page 2 The guides, updated annually to reflect new scientific information about the status of fisheries and fish farming, give people a convenient tool to carry with them as they shop at seafood markets or dine at seafood restaurants. Each guide lists common seafood items, giving each either a “Best Choices” or “Good Alternatives” rating, or a place on the “Avoid” list. The guides also include warnings for seafood with an FDA or EPA health warning for mercury contamination. The aquarium itself serves only seafood on the “Best Choices” and “Good Alternatives” lists to visitors and exhibit animals. Regional pocket guides are available at the aquarium, through partner organizations or online at www.seafoodwatch.org. With the aid of grants from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Annenberg Foundation, the aquarium continues to develop a network of Seafood Watch partners, and to work more closely with retailers and restaurateurs to create market incentives for businesses that make the switch to sustainable seafood. In recent months, organizations including Oceana and the National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation have become Seafood Watch partners. “Fisheries conservation is among the most important marine conservation issues today,” said aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard. “It’s an environmental problem whose solution is in people’s hands every time they buy seafood. Through Seafood Watch, we want to give people the information they need to make wise choices when they shop.” “Fish are the only wildlife on Earth still actively hunted as a major food source,” noted Jennifer Dianto, who heads the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. Increased consumer demand for seafood and the growth of destructive fishing practices have had a profound effect on the health of the oceans. Today, 11 of the world’s 15 most important fishing areas – and nearly 70 percent of the world’s fisheries – are considered either fully fished or overfished. Perhaps 30 million tons of fish, sharks and seabirds die each year as “wasted catch” – animals caught accidentally and discarded, dead or dying. Fish-farming, or aquaculture, can help alleviate pressures on wild fisheries, but if not done responsibly can have its own set of problems, including pollution, spread of disease to wild populations and the destructive conversion of coastal wetlands into commercial fish farms. The mission of the Seafood Watch program is to empower seafood consumers and businesses to make choices for healthy oceans. The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans. -30- Updated: December 2005 Editors: Images of Seafood Watch pocket guides and of many seafood species listed on the pocket guides are available through the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s online pressroom at www.montereybayaquarium.org. Back to Top SEAFOOD WATCH PROGRAM Fact Sheet The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program empowers seafood consumers and businesses to make choices for healthy oceans. In doing so, the program works to transform seafood markets in ways that create incentives for sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices. Key elements of the program include public education efforts to raise consumer awareness about sustainable seafood issues, primarily through distribution of Seafood Watch pocket guides; and outreach efforts with retailers, restaurateurs and other seafood purveyors to encourage them to make the switch to sustainable seafood. PUBLIC EDUCATION In 1997, the Monterey Bay Aquarium opened its Fishing for Solutions special exhibition to inform visitors about conservation issues surrounding fishing and aquaculture practices. In the course of developing the exhibit about the environmental threats from non-sustainable practices, the aquarium evaluated the seafood it was serving through its own restaurants and catering services, and to exhibit animals. It made a commitment that it would only serve seafood obtained from environmentally responsible sources. Low-key publicizing of the change prompted visitors to ask for copies of the aquarium’s approved seafood list. From this modest beginning, the Seafood Watch program was born. In 1999, with the launch of a new and expanded aquarium web site, this information metamorphosed into the first Seafood Watch consumer pocket guide. The Seafood Watch Pocket Guide lists sustainable seafood choices for consumers in a green “Best Choices” column, and non-sustainable choices in a red “Avoid” column. Those in the “Avoid” column come from sources that are overfished, or are caught or farmed in ways that harm the environment. There is also a yellow “Good Alternatives” list, which includes seafood where there are some problems with fishing or farming methods used, but which are better choices than those in the “Avoid” column. In 2001, Seafood Watch was awarded a grant of more than $2 million from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to significantly expand the program. Subsequent grants from the Packard and Annenberg foundations have supported the evolving program. Today, it is geared to shift the buying habits of consumers and businesses to support sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. Seafood Watch has distributed more than 7 million pocket guides, starting with a West Coast regional guide and now including a Hispanic guide and regional guides for the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and Hawaii. More than 42 full-partner and 47 associate-partner organizations distribute guides, and more than 1.4 million were distributed in copies of Sierra and National Wildlife magazines. Seafood Watch web pages have attracted more than 600,000 individual visitors, who have downloaded more than 430,000 pocket guides. As a Seafood Choices Alliance partner, the aquarium collaborates to help raise public awareness of sustainable seafood issues. PURVEYOR OUTREACH Increasingly, the Seafood Watch program concentrates on efforts to change the buying patterns of seafood purveyors: restaurants, retailers and wholesalers. These businesses are the “gatekeepers” to seafood supplies in the United States. Restaurants alone account for approximately 70 percent (by dollar value) of all seafood sold nationwide. Online, the Seafood Watch web pages (www.seafoodwatch.org) offer resources for purveyors to use in understanding sustainable seafood issues and in training their staff to discuss the complexities of sustainable seafood with customers. Seafood Watch also maintains fact sheets and downloadable Seafood Reports on the web site. And Seafood Watch has developed a training package for purveyors to use as they move to incorporate sustainable seafood on their menus and at their seafood counters. Since 2002, the aquarium and Seafood Watch have hosted annual Cooking for Solutions events, which bring together celebrity chefs from across the United States and internationally to prepare gourmet dishes using sustainable seafood and organic ingredients, paired with organic and sustainably grown wines. These events—which reach several thousand consumers as well as food journalists and restaurateurs—strengthen the connection between the foods people eat and the health of the oceans and the land. Notable chef participants have included Alice Waters, Jacques Pépin, Diana Kennedy, Martin Yan, Rick Bayless, Nora Pouillon, Rick Moonen, and more than three dozen other renowned chefs. The aquarium and Seafood Watch work with institutional food service providers like Bon Appétit Management Company, Delaware North and Xanterra to shift their menus toward sustainable seafood and establish them as leaders in the transformation of the food service industry. Bon Appétit, which provides catering services for the aquarium along with 150 other corporate and institutional clients nationwide, has become an industry leader and is beginning to influence its international parent corporation. Delaware North and Xanterra are changing the seafood offered at the state and national parks where they are concessionaires. Seafood Watch also works with retailers including Whole Foods Market and a host of regional co-op and natural foods markets to shift their seafood buying practices toward sustainable seafood. It partners with local restaurants on the Monterey Peninsula and in the San Francisco Bay area to promote sustainable seafood menus, and to help train wait staff to communicate sustainable seafood messages with restaurant patrons. Through the aquarium’s membership in the 214-member American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Seafood Watch brings a sustainable seafood message to millions of zoo and aquarium visitors nationwide. Updated: December 2005 Back to Top NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For information contact: Electronic media: Mimi Hahn (831) 648-4918; [email protected] Print media: Ken Peterson (831) 648-4922; [email protected] Spanish media: Rachel Gomez (831) 648-4986; [email protected] AQUARIUM ISSUES SPANISH-LANGUAGE SEAFOOD GUIDE Spanish-speaking consumers now have a tool to help them protect ocean wildlife every time they order seafood at restaurants and seafood markets: a Spanish-language pocket guide to sustainable seafood, created by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The Spanish-language guide is modeled on the West Coast pocket guide issued by the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. The guide features about 60 of the most popular seafood species found on menus and in markets across the West Coast. Each is ranked in “Best Choices,” “Good Alternatives” and “Avoid” categories by the Seafood Watch research team. “We wanted to empower the Latino community,” said Jennifer Dianto, Seafood Watch senior program manager. “This card is a great way for families to make a difference in the health of the oceans through their buying power.” She noted that the Public Policy Institute of California, in a 2003 statewide survey, found that Latinos were more concerned about many of the environmental problems affecting the coast than non-Latino Californians. One significant finding: between 32 and 46 percent of Latinos say that overfishing is a big problem for the state. The aquarium has already distributed more than 30,000 Spanish pocket guides. Most are available through partner organizations such as Bon Appétit Management Company, a food service company with many corporate, educational and museum clients; Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose; and the Seattle Aquarium. The Spanish-language consumer guides can also be found online and printed out at www.seafoodwatch.org. The Seafood Watch research team produced the Spanish guide in collaboration with staff at the Fishwife and Turtle Bay Taqueria restaurants on the Monterey Peninsula. Restaurant owners Julio and Marie Ramirez – and their bilingual staff – helped to create the new guide. “The staff was honored to contribute to the Spanish Seafood Watch card,” said Marie Ramirez. “This is a great tool for our staff to share with our Spanish-speaking customers, who in turn can take it home and share it with their families and friends.” For more information on Seafood Watch or to print out the Spanish-language consumer guide, visit www.seafoodwatch.org -30- Editors: Copies of the Spanish Seafood Watch cards are available from the Public Relations office. Preview card at http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/mba_seafoodwatch_spanishguide.pdf Updated: December 2005 Back to Top NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 4, 2006 For information contact Broadcast media: Mimi Hahn (831) 648-4918; [email protected] Print and online media: Ken Peterson (831) 648-4922; [email protected] RICK BAYLESS, MANY OTHER RENOWNED CHEFS ARE STARS OF ‘COOKING FOR SOLUTIONS 2006’ ---------- Culinary gala, tours, “Iron Chef” event put sustainable cuisine in the spotlight Some of America’s greatest chefs will share their passion for fine dining and environmentally sustainable living as part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Cooking for Solutions 2006. During the two-day event May 19-20, 2006, celebrity chefs from three nations will create gourmet dishes, host sustainable food and wine adventures, and present cooking demonstrations that feature sustainable seafood. All events support the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which aims to connect individual buying decisions with the health of oceans and the soil. Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill/Topolobampo in Chicago, one of America’s culinary stars, a foremost proponent of Mexican regional cuisine and a committed advocate of sustainable seafood, will be the honored chef at the fifth annual Cooking for Solutions celebration. Cooking for Solutions 2006 will bring together noted chefs from the United States, Canada and Mexico as ambassadors for sustainable dining. This year’s roster of culinary greats includes Jim Dodge, San Francisco; John Ash, Sonoma County; Nancy Oakes, of Boulevard in San Francisco; Jerry Traunfeld, of The Herbfarm, Woodinville, Wash.; Louis Osteen, of Louis’s at Pawleys, Charleston, S.C.; Melissa Kelly, of Primo Restaurant, Rockland, Maine; John Shields, of Coastal Ventures, Baltimore; Colby Garrelts, of Bluestem, Kansas City; Rob Clark, of C restaurant, Vancouver, B.C.; and Benito Molina of Manzanilla, in Mexico City, Mexico. Events will include a festive Friday night gourmet gala on May 19 that features sustainable seafood and other dishes prepared using organic ingredients – all created by the celebrity chefs, their local host chefs and exceptional regional restaurants. In addition, attendees will sample organic and sustainable wines from 35 wineries in California and the western United States. - more- COOKING FOR SOLUTIONS 2006 – Monterey Bay Aquarium – Page 2 The gala will be preceded by a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception with Rick Bayless. On Saturday, May 20, celebrity chefs will lead five food and wine adventures. Rick Bayless and Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard will present a deluxe food event at a showplace oceanfront home on the Big Sur coast. Three other celebrity chefs will present morning cooking demonstrations at the aquarium, featuring sustainable seafood ingredients. Saturday evening there will be a second reception with Rick Bayless that will also feature the popular Sustainable Seafood Challenge, an “Iron Chef”-like event in which four Cooking for Solutions chefs prepare tasty seafood dishes from the same sustainable ingredients while Bayless and special guests provide lively “color commentary.” The aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which inspired creation of Cooking for Solutions, gives consumers, retailers and restaurateurs the information they need to make seafood choices that can assure a future with abundant ocean wildlife. Seafood Watch creates and distributes regional pocket guides to sustainable seafood that consumers can use to guide their seafood buying decisions at the restaurant or market. The aquarium has created West Coast, Southeast, Northeast, Hawaii and Midwest regional guides, a national guide, and a Spanish-language version of the West Coast guide. Each features seafood items popular in different parts of the United States. It also partners with zoos, aquarium, conservation organizations, retailers, restaurateurs and seafood purveyors to shift seafood markets in directions that reward sustainability. Presenting sponsors for Cooking for Solutions 2006 are Whole Foods Market and Bon Appétit Management Company. Tickets for all events are available by calling the Monterey Bay Aquarium toll-free at 866-963- 9644. Information about Cooking for Solutions 2006, including full program details and chef biographies, can be found online in “What’s New” at www.montereybayaquarium.org. Event brochures are available by sending an email to [email protected]. The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans. - 30 - Editors: Program details included below. Public Relations can provide photos of Rick Bayless and other celebrity chefs, honored local chefs, and images of past Cooking for Solutions events; as well as video B-roll of past Cooking for Solutions events. COOKING FOR SOLUTIONS 2006 CELEBRITY CHEFS HONORED CHEF Rick Bayless Frontera Grill/Topolobampo Chicago, Illinois The pre-eminent exponent of regional Mexican cuisine in the United States, Rick is the author of four definitive and award-winning books about Mexican cooking. Honored by the Beard Foundation as Humanitarian of the Year and National Chef of the year, he is deeply committed to promoting sustainable seafood and environmentally sound farming practices. www.fronterakitchens.com CELEBRITY CHEFS John Ash Sonoma County, California A perennial favorite at Cooking for Solutions and a staunch advocate for sustainable foods and wine; internationally recognized chef/educator, credited as the creator of Wine Country Cuisine; award-winning author of three cookbooks including John Ash Cooking One-on-One: Private Lessons in Simple Contemporary Food from a Master Teacher. www.chefjohnash.com Robert Clark C Restaurant Vancouver, British Columbia A passionate advocate of sustainable seafood and promoter of the regional abundance of British Columbia; a chef whose culinary creations have earned many awards for excellence; creates cutting-edge dishes that combine cuisine, consciousness and creativity in equal measures. www.crestaurant.com Jim Dodge Bon Appétit Management Co. Palo Alto, California A much-honored chef in the United States and Asia; considered to be one of the leading influences on contemporary American cuisine; author of the Beard Award-winning cookbook, The American Baker; a contributing editor to Joy of Cooking. www.bamco.com Colby Garrelts Bluestem Kansas City, Missouri Considered one of the rising culinary stars in the United States; honored as one of Food and Wine magazine’s top new chefs for 2005; features progressive American Cuisine that combines training under great chefs across the country with a unique vision of fine dining. www.bluestemkc.com Melissa Kelly Primo Restaurant Rockland, Maine A culinary star and Beard Award-winner as best chef in the Northeast; has trained under great chefs including Alice Waters, Larry Forgione and Reed Heron; specializes in farm-fresh regional cuisine with a Mediterranean flavor, and with a strong reliance on foods from organic and sustainable sources. www.primorestaurant.com Benito Molina Manzanilla Mexico City, Mexico An exponent of cocina Mexicana de vanguardia -- avant-garde Mexican food – that emphasizes fresh, sustainable seafood and fresh, local (often organic) ingredients; draws on influences ranging from his grandmother’s kitchen in the Yucatan to formal culinary training in New England. http://www.sdreader.com/ed/rr/wise/2003/WISE.HTM.012303 Nancy Oakes Boulevard San Francisco, California Considered San Francisco’s most beloved chef, of city’s favorite restaurant; a Beard Award-winner as best chef in California; offers a sensuous dining experience that utilizes the freshest local ingredients prepared to order for her customers; author of The Boulevard Restaurant Cookbook. www.boulevardrestaurant.com Louis Osteen Louis’s at Pawleys Pawley’s Island, South Carolina Considered the premier interpreter of new Southern cuisine; a Beard Award-winner as best chef in the Southeast in 2004; his recipes showcase fresh, sustainable seafood and Lowcountry ingredients. www.louisatpawleys.com John Shields Coastal Ventures Baltimore, Maryland A “culinary ambassador” for Chesapeake Bay through three cookbooks and a public television series; chef of the much-honored Gertrude’s at the Baltimore Museum of Art, where the menu features sustainable, local farm products and seafood; author of Coastal Cooking with John Shields and a companion PBS television series. www.johnshields.com Jerry Traunfeld The Herbfarm Woodinville, Washington Nationally recognized for his innovative multi-course menus and his expertise in culinary herbs; Beard Award-winner as Best Chef in the Northwest; author of the award-winning The Herbfarm Cookbook and newly released The Herbal Kitchen. www.theherbfarm.com