Elle Macpherson and Stephen Fry tackle Nobu over including endangered species on menu
"It's astounding lunacy to serve up endangered species for sushi. There's no justification for peddling extinction," says Stephen Fry about the inclusion of bluefin tuna on the menu at Nobu, a London eatery owned by Robert Di Niro and chef Nobu Matsuhisa - pictured
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Photo: © Rex
Thirty one famous names have threatened to boycott the restaurant if it continues to serve the endangered fish. If consumption of bluefin tuna does not cease it could face extinction in as little as four years. Tinned tuna comes from other species
Photo: © PA
Celebrity diners at London's trendy Nobu restaurant, including Elle Macpherson, Stephen Fry and Jemima Khan, have threatened to boycott the eatery for serving bluefin tuna.
Charlize Theron, Sting and Trudie Styler, Woody Harrelson and Sienna Miller have also signed the letter to the Michelin-starred Japanese fusion restaurant, which is part-owned by Hollywood star Robert De Niro. In it they to say they can no longer "dine with a clear conscience" while Nobu continues to include the fish, recognised to be as endangered as the panda and white rhino, on its menu.
While acknowledging the restaurant – which has 24 branches and is a favourite haunt of stars – as one with "a fantastic reputation and enormous influence", the signees ask for bluefin tuna to "be completely removed from the menu due to its perilous position as an extremely endangered animal".
"The possibility that the magnificent bluefin tuna, one of the fastest creatures on the planet, could be extinct in as little as four years is a tragedy," they write.
Their gesture comes after Nobu's new policy of adding a warning to the menu about the fish's threatened status featured in a new film about the destruction of the world's fish stocks, entitled End Of The Line. The film reveals how the bluefin, which used to be abundant in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, has been fished to the point of extinction.
Unimpressed by Nobu's amendment, celebs are adamant it must be removed altogether.
Writing on his Twitter page, Stephen Fry said: "It's astounding lunacy to serve up endangered species for sushi. There's no justification for peddling extinction, yet that is exactly what Nobu is doing in restaurants around the world."
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Comments
07/06/2009 21:04:58 | T.G
It's the selfish attitude of saying things will never become extinct which make them so. Humans need to realise there are other lives apart from their own that are important. It won't hurt this restaurant to stop serving this poor fish. Rich people need to realise that just because they think they can, doesn't mean it's right.It's because lot of humans have no thought for anything except themselves that has made the planet and all it's wonderful living things the way it is, dying.
05/06/2009 18:11:19 | Suki Yaki
There are other things/causes to fight for of more importance in the world than the blue fin tuna; people in Asia who go deep sea fishing eat that all the time. It is a fish and will never be extinct. Oh, and by the way, if these "starlets, actors, actresses" are on this mission, why not ran after other restaurants serving both the blue fin and yellow-tail tuna? or better yet, just do not patronise the restaurant.
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