No Mo Toro!

Plants & Animals is putting forth our new campaign No Mo Toro. Here is an overview of what we are trying to do.

Operation: No Mo Toro

Project Outline

What and Why?

Bluefin tuna are at risk of extinction. The amazing fish is prized for its flesh at sushi bars around the world. A single Bluefin can be sold for $100,000 or more in Japanese fish markets (Japan purchases 80% of the world’s Bluefin catch). The world’s Bluefin stocks are estimated to be 15% of what they were before industrial fishing practices became common 50 years ago. Some estimates say that at current fishing rates, the Bluefin will be extinct in 3-10 years.

Given this reality, you might think it would be illegal to serve Bluefin at a restaurant in the U.S. (as it is illegal to serve whale and dolphin meat). Unfortunately, we have found that several Denver sushi bars serve Bluefin Toro and Maguro, often whenever they can get their hands on it. We at Plants & Animals Denver see this as a ridiculous as serving Siberian Tiger burgers or Mountain Gorilla steaks.

Thus we are initiating Operation: No Mo Toro. To do our part to save the Bluefin, we will be operating an ongoing public campaign to get Denver sushi bars to stop serving the threatened species, and educate consumers about why this is important.

How?

We will use multiple strategies to decrease demand for Bluefin and pressure sushi bars to be more conscious of their offerings:

Business Outreach

We will contact each Bluefin-serving sushi bar via open letter to get more information about their Bluefin offerings, inform them of our concerns and intentions, offer a collaborative approach to meet common goals, and suggest they begin more conscious business practices. We hope to establish an amiable professional relationship with each business, rather than a hostile one.

Online Sushi Bar List

We will compile the most accurate information available about the 10 most prominent sushi bars in central Denver and post it on our website, Facebook, and Twitter pages. We will include whether or not they serve Bluefin, how it is caught, whether it is identified as a threatened species on the menu, and how they have responded to our letters. We will use this as an incentive for sushi bars to be reflected more positively in our campaign.

Consumer Education

– Leafleting around sushi bars: Seafood Watch pocket guides, End of the Line comment cards, Plants & Animals Denver handbills.

– Press releases or notifications to local media.

Goals

Convince sushi bars to stop offering Bluefin Tuna at their establishments

Educate the sushi-eating public about the consequences of their species choices

Make Denver a Bluefin-free city

The need for change is extremely urgent. Therefore we will begin this project as soon as possible and sustain it until every Denver sushi bar stops serving Bluefin Tuna. Once that goal is met, Plants & Animals Denver will monitor the existing sushi bars, as well as the new ones to make sure none of them contribute to the extinction of incredible marine species like Bluefin Tuna. No Mo Toro!

For more information http://www.wwf.org