Gordon Ramsay to take Bluefin off the menu

Gordon Ramsay is to take bluefin tuna off his restaurant's menus after criticism from conservationists and the government.

Ramsay will take the endangered fish off his menus at his eponymous restaurant in Chelsea and at Claridge's, according to a report in the Independent today, after the World Wildlife Fund and the Marine Conservation Society called for the move.

Found in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, bluefin tuna is on the verge of commercial extinction, mainly because of its popularity as sashimi in the Japanese market.

It is now classified as endangered or critically endangered by the World Conservation Union.

Bernadette Clarke, senior fisheries policy officer at the Marine Conservation Society, said the sale of the fish in some of the most affluent restaurants was a disgrace.

"Someone like Gordon Ramsay, who is in the public eye and who is looked up to by his chefs, other restaurateurs and the public, should be setting an example by not selling fish like bluefin." she said.

A spokeswoman for Gordon Ramsay Holdings said the fish would be taken off the menu: "As of 1 June, it's coming off those two menus and being replaced by yellowfin tuna. They will not use bluefin tuna any more."

Ramsay and other chefs have recently come under fire for their use of foie gras and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has launched a campaign to ban the delicacy.

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By Emily Manson

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