Quarter of eateries serving endangered fish

More than a quarter of restaurants in Brussels serve fish listed as endangered, according to a survey.

Fish2fork, an online guide to the sustainability of fish served in restaurants, examined 76 restaurants in the seat of EU power, including many within walking distance of the European Parliament and the European Commission offices.

The policy that governs fishing fleets across the bloc is currently up for reform in order to make its fisheries more sustainable, but many restaurants visited by MEPs, ministers and officials are serving unsustainable stocks, research suggests.

The survey found 26% of restaurants confirmed they served at least one of three fish — bluefin tuna, eel and halibut – which are all listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species.

But the figure could be as high as 50% because many restaurants did not clearly identify the origin or species of some fish dishes, Fish2fork said. Up to 6% served wild-caught salmon, regarded by campaigners as something to be avoided, while other fish of concern on the menus of Brussels restaurants include shark, sea bass, seabeam, skates and rays, turbot and brill.

Some 11 of the 76 restaurants confirmed they served European eel, a fish which is critically endangered, while up to 27% of the venues polled appeared to serve it.

Fish2fork said some believed they were buying farmed eels, bred in captivity from eggs, but the species has not been bred successfully in captivity and “farmed” eels are originally taken from the wild, with high mortality rates.

The organisation said 10 restaurants confirmed they were serving bluefin tuna, although up to 22 restaurants appeared to have it on the menu. Half of all those eateries surveyed served cod from over-fished stocks and three were serving endangered wild Atlantic halibut.

The website awards ratings on a 0-10 scale where the top grade is five blue fish — yet to be achieved by any restaurant — and the bottom mark is five red fish, depending on the sustainability of their seafood.