Why have Scotland's chefs taken wild Scottish salmon off their menus?
Wild Scottish salmon numbers have depleted drastically over the past few decades and chefs have had to take the wild fish off of their menus and are seeking alternatives.
Over the last 25 years, the number of wild Scottish salmon, also known as Atlantic Salmon, has fallen by 70% and there is a debate surrounding the causes of the decrease in wild salmon in the Scottish rivers including, environmental issues and over-fishing.
Restaurants all over the world have been affected by this significant loss in Scottish wild salmon and have been forced to seek alternatives, such as farmed salmon and wild sea bass.
Scottish Michelin-starred chef Billy Boyter at The Cellar in Fife spoke to The Staff Canteen about why chefs love to use wild salmons on their dishes.
He said: “The quality of wild Scottish salmon is fantastic, I don’t think it’s comparable to anything else and although I would say you can get some top draw farmed Scottish salmon, if you compare the two in terms of flavour and the texture, I think there is a big difference.
“There are some great wild salmon and sea trout farms in Scotland if you’re happy to use those - it’s the best way to know where your salmon is coming from if that was going to be an alternative."
He added: "Get as much information on the farm so it can be as good quality as it can be. Otherwise, probably move to another wild fish.”
Billy told us that he would normally sell wild salmon on the menu but because the number is so low it has become a delicacy and very expensive.
“It’s something that’s becoming quite rare now and to see it on a menu is quite unique," he explained. "I can’t think of many places you would go where you see wild Scottish salmon on the menu - we don’t have it because of the price of it but it’s a lovely and luxury product to have.
“It is something that we should cherish and protect. I think anything that a chef can do which is going to help we should definitely do even if it is a case of taking it off the menu and not using it for a few years. We don’t want to not have it in the future because it is such a unique and fantastic product.”
Atlantic salmon face a complex range of challenges throughout their lifecycle, making survival tough - credit www.salmon-trout.org
Stuart Ralston, chef owner of Aizle in Edinburgh, explained the main reasons for the shortage. He said: “There are two main things. One is we are over-fishing and we are paying for it now - the excess of the 80s and 90s. My fish guy says he used to get a ton a week of wild salmon, now, none.
"The second is I think there have been things that have changed in the eco-system.”
Even though there is no single cause for this problem, measures are being put in place to help, including conservation laws set by the Scottish government which have closed all of the netting stations that aren’t regulated.
Following this initiative, the status of wild salmon will be evaluated in the 2019 season by the Scottish government.
A tracking system has been put in place to monitor the activity and number of fish which stops people from fishing the salmon as they will be tagged and tracked.
Stuart said: “It will stop anyone on the river beds actually catching it which is a good thing because they need to let salmon get upstream so they can spawn and then replenish the stock we have kind of abused over the past few years. It will help people understand the theory of it.
“Scottish salmon is seen as such an iconic part of our industry and of our tourism. Our salmon gets shipped all over the world, if it’s Scottish, it’s a premium or a luxury ingredient.
"So, I think we have to look at using technology to our advantage, seeing and putting more money into those sorts of things.”
The fishing industry is vital to the Scottish economy and the loss of wild salmon raises great concern to all those involved in the chain including the chefs of the best restaurants in the world. They certainly want to see the wild Atlantic Salmon on the menu once again.
By George Heal
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