FH1117

FOOD FILE
Ingredient
Spotlight
®
The popular saying “first you eat
with your eyes” is put
to the test at The
Five Fishermen restaurant
in Halifax.
Alongside standard
sustainable ocean fare
such as oysters, mussels,
tuna, haddock and halibut,
the 35-year-old restaurant offers a
decidedly odd-looking food (one description has
them looking like “dinosaur toes”) called gooseneck
barnacles.
Also known as percebes, gooseneck barnacles
are a popular delicacy in Spain and Portugal.
Tubular in shape, these crustaceans are found
clinging to rocks below the high-tide line.
They are known for their sweet flesh, which is
described as tasting like a cross between lobster
and clams. At The Five Fishermen, they are served
steamed with a dipping sauce.
In Canada, gooseneck barnacles are harvested
from the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations’ gooseneck-barnacle
fishery in Clayoquot Sound, B.C.
Recognized as a sustainable-seafood choice by
the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program in
2015, the harvest site consists of 48 rocks.
Colorado-based FishChoice’s “Sustainable
Seafood Restaurant Finder” identifies 988 restaurants
in Canada offering certified-sustainable
seafood. They range from chains such
as Earls and Moxies, to independent eateries
such as Lbs. in Toronto’s financial district.
But Lugar believes sustainability’s growth
potential is hampered because it hasn’t
become a key factor when it comes to selecting
a menu item. “[Restaurants] don’t often
get people saying ‘I want this fish because it’s
sustainable.’ When they’re eating fish in a restaurant
they’re looking for taste, texture and
flavour,” he says.
Because it’s voluntary, MSC relies on the
public to push demand for sustainable seafood,
which Lugar says can put pressure on
fisheries to become certified.
“We can educate and inform people, but
fisheries have to volunteer to come forward.
Using consumer demand, and having people
become aware of the need for sustainable
seafood, will push those requirements to
these fisheries.” FH
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