Sustainable sushi

Sustainable sushi is sushi made from fished or farmed sources that can be maintained or whose future production does not significantly jeopardize the ecosystems from which it is acquired. Concerns over the sustainability of sushi ingredients arise from greater concerns over environmental, economic and social stability and human health.

In 2005, Miya's created the first sushi menu that featured sustainable seafood. Miya's is often regarded as the first sushi restaurant to actively promote sustainable items on its menu. Across the country from Miya's, Tataki in San Francisco was likely the world's first first fully sustainable sushi bar. Opening in 2008, Tataki had a fully sustainable menu from the outset, a claim which no other sushi bar could make at the time. Since then, a growing number of sushi restaurants have adopted sustainability as a guiding principle and have come together to form what they refer to as the "sustainable sushi movement." These individuals espouse the use of only environmentally responsible seafood products as a means of preserving the art of sushi and the health of the world's oceans. Currently, there are upwards of 25 sustainable sushi restaurants in the United States. The gravity of the movement has been acknowledged by many media outlets around the world, including TIME Magazine, which recognized the restaurants Miya's, Bamboo, and Tataki as pioneers in the sushi sustainability.

Advocacy for sustainable sushi emerged as a response to reckless fishing practices and the endangerment of many fish and other marine life. Industrial pollution from power plants, waste incinerators and mining operations has led to the increasing levels of mercury found in marine life today.

Sustainable sushi raises questions about the sources of the fish used—whether ingredients were caught or raised. It also raises questions about the vulnerability of the species (longevity and reproductive capability) and whether humans are overfishing the stock. Many of the current methods used to fish leads to overfishing and the unintentional killing of fish and other marine life. Irresponsible fishing practices if allowed to persist unabated would lead to a seafood species worldwide crash by 2048 (in a worst-case scenario). It is estimated that worldwide, 90% of large predatory fish species are gone. Of the 230 US fisheries assessed, it was determined that 54 stocks are overfished, 45 are currently undergoing overfishing while the status of a bit over half of the US’s stocks are unknown. These problems are largely due to the lack of regulation fishing has had in the past. In the 1960s there was complete access to the fish supply. Marine fisheries were not regulated and largely exploited fishing for economic gain as calls for the expansion of US fishing fleets were met by increased fishing efficiency.

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