Restaurateurs brace for seafood supply decreases

Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 27, 1995 by Carolyn Walkup

As Congress searches for ways to further regulate commercial fishing in its effort to conserve diminishing resources, restaurant operators say they are preparing for additional short-term price hikes and decreases in supply.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted in October to reauthorize and strengthen the expired Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act - a measure that seeks to prevent the overfishing of both popular species and unwanted species caught as bycatch and to strengthen marine habitat protection.

The Senate has not yet considered its version of the bill.

The measure is necessary, said the National Marine Fisheries Service, because more than 40 percent of fish species in U.S. waters are known to be overfished or seriously depleted. And the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization fisheries database shows that the catch of some species has fallen by as much as 80 percent over the past two decades.

Despite the problems operators already have faced - as well as those they have yet to encounter - with regard to pricing and supply, many agree that such environmentally motivated actions must be taken. "The closing was absolutely necessary and something that the industry has to support," said Roger Berkowitz, president and chief executive of the 11-unit Legal Seafoods chain in Massachusetts.

But while seafood restaurateurs are generally in agreement that some restrictive measures are necessary, they also hope such actions will head off further government closings of overtaxed fisheries - such as last December's closing by the U.S. Commerce Department of the Georges Bank fishery off the coast of Massachusetts, a leading source of cod, haddock, flounder and other popular species.

Berkowitz said he has been able to locate sources for the same species that previously came from Georges Bank, but he is paying a much steeper price for them.

Weathervane Seafood Restaurants, a 16-unit New England chain based in Kittery, Maine, has been importing more fresh and frozen species from countries like Norway and Iceland since the U.S. Commerce Department closed Georges Bank fishery, said James Collins, vice president, purchasing.

On the other hand, operators are voicing concerns about several, more restrictive measures Congress has taken under consideration. Bruce Cotton, senior vice president of public affairs for Long John Silver's, the Lexington, Ky.-based fast feeder, said he is worried about possible effects of several amendments the House has passed. "One amendment could result in a global ban on fish importation," Cotton said.

Another amendment involving tighter restrictions on fishing quotas also could result in lowered fish availability. "We hope the Senate will take a hard look at these amendments," he added.

The National Fisheries Institute, a seafood industry trade association, will be lobbying senators to modify these and other amendments. "The industry is generally supportive of the bills but remains concerned that the bills not unduly restrict production," said Richard Gutting, the NFI's vice president, government relations.

The problem of overfishing has caused all fresh wild-caught finfish prices to rise in the last five to seven years, according to Scott Barnett, president of 60-unit Rusty Pelican restaurants. "You have to go so much further to get good fresh products. That drives up transportation costs."

Prices often change every 24 to 48 hours these days, said Joel Knox, president of Inland Seafood in Atlanta. "What really disrupts things is a combination of weather and quotas. It's tough on the wholesaler and on the restaurant."

Among the species that Rusty Pelican pays considerably more for now are tuna, swordfish and any variety of Alaskan crab. Adding to the problem is competition from the Japanese, who, Barnett said, are willing to pay any price for the species they want.

At the 14-unit McCormick & Schmick's seafood chain based in Portland, Ore., prices of fish have risen 23 percent across the board in the last 18 months, according to William King, senior corporate chef. "Availability is leaner, and prices are definitely up everywhere," he said.

Reduced landings of mahi mahi, which King said is the third-most-popular fish sold in his restaurants behind swordfish and tuna, have resulted in a 70-percent price increase.

Bob Chinn's Crabhouse in Wheeling, Ill., a high-volume, single-unit restaurant with annual sales of about $20 million, has paid as much as 70-percent more over 1993 prices for premium king crab and has raised its prices 20 percent. A 20-ounce portion of king crab legs is now priced around $35, said general manager Frank D'Angelo.

A dramatic decline in the king crab harvest is one of many examples showing how overfishing depletes a resource. In 1980, 128 million pounds of red king crab were harvested from Bristol Bay, Alaska's main king crab fishery. In 1993 only 14.6 million pounds were harvested. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, source of those figures, closed the fishery to commercial fishing in 1994 and 1995 and has not decided whether to reopen it in 1996.