NOFF launches Off The Table, supported by leading chefs

NOFF today officially launches Off the table in Australia, calling on chefs, restaurants and other hospitality businesses to take farmed Atlantic salmon off their menus this Easter – and beyond. Tasmanian and mainland food industry leaders have joined the campaign.

Matthew Evans, host of acclaimed SBS series Gourmet Farmer and What's the Catch? has pledged never to serve Tasmanian salmon at his Fat Pig Farm. 

"We see first hand the rubbish and devastation that poorly regulated and unsustainable fish farming has caused," said Evans, the former Sydney Morning Herald food critic, author and farmer who lives in the Huon Valley. "It's clear that the way we produce salmon in open pens is done in a way that continues to harm Tasmania's natural environment. It's a dirty industry that refuses to clean up its act."

Analiese Gregory, star of SBS show Girl's Guide to Hunting, Fishing and Wild Cooking, former chef at Michelin star restaurants Le Meurice in Paris and Quay in Sydney provided tips for chefs: 

"It can be hard to need to change menu items for a variety of reasons but I feel that one small achievable step at a time is the answer," she said. "Do your research, ask the questions, figure out what you're happy with serving, then find ways to replace the other ingredients, such as transitioning to smoked trout instead of salmon. Also be prepared to do some educating with the dining public as you go, train your staff on how to explain the decisions and why they've been taken."

Stephen Peak, head chef at New Norfolk's The Agrarian Kitchen – Gourmet Traveller magazine's current Australian restaurant of the year – actively promotes the sourcing of local line caught sustainable Tasmanian wild fish. 

"Open net fish farming in Tasmania is unsustainable. Salmon and ocean trout are farmed in coastal waterways using industrial farming practices and come at a significant cost to the environment. As a chef, I believe I have a responsibility to serve produce that has been farmed ethically and sustainably, and to educate and promote the importance of small-scale, local and sustainable farming."

Mitch Orr, former head chef at ACME in Potts Point and Kiln in Surry Hills, Sydney says he won't serve farmed salmon. 

"It's our responsibility to understand and care about where our produce comes from. I'll never serve farmed Atlantic salmon or ocean trout from Tasmania. These products are the result of an unethical food system. One that is rife with welfare issues and environmental pollution. Not to mention the chemical additives in the industrial feed used. It's simply not a fish I would be able to take pride in plating up. "It's not something I would ever recommend for any chef that takes their profession seriously."

A global coalition campaign founded in Scotland, Off the table Australia has partner organisations in the UK, Canada and Iceland. All campaigns share two key asks: 

• Asking chefs, restaurants and consumers to say no to eating, selling or serving open-net farmed salmon
• To explore the alternatives, including eating seasonally and sustainably with fish and shellfish lower down the food chain.

The campaign first started in the UK by Wildfish, and a worldwide directory of chefs who refuse to serve farmed Atlantic salmon has grown into the hundreds. Off the table Australia has rallied a growing number of chefs and restaurants that are committed to taking farmed salmon off their menus. 

We call on chefs to join us and help take this unsustainable product off the table.