Sustainable Seafood

*Bluefin sushi will only be available for a limited period because bluefin will soon be extinct. © Ultimate Holding Company / Greenpeace

Bluefin tuna is an endangered species, and it's the oceanic equivalent of a tiger, rhino, or panda - yet it is still being served up as expensive sushi in restaurants. In London alone, there are dozens of venues serving up bluefin, although the celebrity hang-out Nobu is probably the most high-profile culprit.

Our politicians have failed on bluefin tuna, they ignore the scientific warnings, and continue to set quotas that are then ignored by the fishermen.

If we want to stop bluefin from becoming extinct in just a few years then we need to take action now.

Let's face it, even if you're Raymond Blanc, buying the right fish these days is not so simple.

And right now many of our traditional favourites, from cod to tuna, are disappearing rapidly from the seas due to overfishing and the effects of climate change. Bottom-trawling boats are sailing farther and fishing deeper than ever before, hauling in hordes of fish with heavy, weighted nets that tear up the ocean bottom.

Catch them while you can - endangered bluefin tuna © Greenpeace/Gavin Newman

When we said a few weeks ago that customers of the Nobu chain of high-class sushi restaurants wouldn't be aware that the bluefin tuna being served there was endangered, we never thought they would respond to our complaint in quite such a literal manner. But now diners can clearly see which dishes include tuna from endangered stocks because it's written on the menu. As reported in the Sunday Telegraph and as a result of Greenpeace's investigative work and subsequent discussions with Nobu, customers at the up-market eatery will now be able to clearly identify the endangered species on the menu.

Update on tinned tuna, June 2009: how have the retailers have responded to our report?

We already know that John West's website contains plenty of corporate puffery. After all, this is the company that claims to "only purchase fish which is caught with no harm to the marine environment" but which came a dismal last in our sustainability league table of tinned tuna brands. Yes, John West truly is John Worst on tinned tuna.