Sustainable seafood is on the menu at Hyatt Hotels in the UAE from this month. The group last week introduced the Choose Wisely campaign, which is in collaboration with EWS-WWF, at all properties in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, serving up sustainably-sourced dishes at a lunch at Traiteur, Park Hyatt Dubai.
Whiel three chefs from Hyatt properties prepared a menu of escabeche of ehrenberger’s snapper with garlic mousseline, crispy quinoa and shaved radish, and fillet of yellow fin seabream with confit capsicum “piperade” and anchoiade tatin that could easily convert a non-fish eater like me — chef Michael Clinton, executive chef at Park Hyatt, spoke of the “thoughtfully sourced, carefully served” food philosophy at hotel.
“As someone who works with food on daily basis, it really is refreshing to see how much emphasis guests are putting on being served healthy, seasonal and organic produce. They ask for more transparency and information about what they are eating,” explained Clinton. “Our focus is hence on serving food from natural, local and sustainable sources which are good for our guest, good for the community and good for our planet”.
As its first step in implemeting this philosophy in this region, the hotel group will serve dishes prepared with local fish listed as sustainable, the nutritional value of which is no less than hammour or kingfish.
Studies conducted by the EWS-WWF have shown that overfishing is a significant problem in the UAE, and commercial fish stocks have declined by 80 per cent in the last 30 years. “In the UAE, 60 per cent of the total catch is made up of species that are fished beyond sustainable levels, and eight of the most valuable commercial fish are being overexploited, including shaari, fersh and kanaad,” said Reem Al Thawadi of EWS-WWF. “Hammour is fished at over seven times the sustainable level and is the most overfished species in the country. According to market research conducted by EWS-WWF, 66 per cent of UAE residents eat fish at least once a week. By raising awareness, we can lower the demand for threatened species. And this is where we need hotels and restaurants to play a crucial role by offering consumers sustainable choices.”
Currently, around 20 hotels are participating with EWS-WWF in the campaign, which helps consumers use fish classified using a traffic light system. Fish that fall under the green category are listed as that of a healthy stock in the UAE, while red represents seriously endangered and orange, those on the verge of endangerment. The categories are subject to change, depending on latest local scientific data, explained Reem.
