Your Vancouver Sun

Park Board committee wants concession stands to sell only sustainably-caught seafood

Nicholas Read, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, October 19, 2006

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Park Board planning committee voted unanimously Tuesday to make it mandatory for board-run concession stands to serve only sustainably-caught seafood.

The committee defines sustainably-caught seafood as being fish and seafood caught according to the Vancouver Aquarium's ocean-wise principles. These include:

- That the species is abundant and resilient to fishing pressures.

- That the species is well managed, with a comprehensive management plan based on current research.

- That the species is harvested in a method that ensures limited bycatch on non-target and endangered species.

- That the method of catch ensures there is limited habitat loss associated with the harvesting method.

The four commissioners on the committee, Spencer Herbert (COPE), Allan De Genova (NPA), Corina Houghton (NPA) and Loretta Woodcock (COPE), voted to introduce sustainably-caught fish and seafood to the board's 15 beach concession stands and three golf-course restaurants by next year.

The proposal now has to go before the board as a whole. Herbert, who introduced the measure, expects that to happen early next month.

"I'll believe it when I see it," he said of the measure's chances, "but I'm feeling good."

Herbert said if the proposal is adopted, the biggest changes customers will notice is an absence of breaded shrimp on the menu since shrimp is not harvested sustainably anywhere. But he hopes suppliers will be able to find a suitable alternative.

Salmon served by board concessions is already exclusively wild-caught, Herbert says, and suppliers of cod say they can provide sustainably-caught fish at the same price as the cod concession stands currently serve.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006