Portland sushi catches sustainability wave

A new sushi restaurant in Portland is working hard to capture the attention—and the stomachs—of the city’s sustainable sushi lovers. Among other sustainable practices, the restaurant’s owner announced in November that Bamboo Sushi is the first independent restaurant in the United States to receive Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) chain-of-custody certification.

The certification means that Bamboo Sushi needs to show that it can keep its MSC-certified seafood inventory separate from non-certified fish in the restaurant. According to Kerry Coughlin, a spokeswoman for MSC, Bamboo Sushi is doing this by offering only certified versions of a species. For example, the restaurant serves only certified salmon so there is no possibility of mixing it with non-certified salmon. Currently Bamboo Sushi offers eight rolls and a few other MSC-labeled options on its much-larger menu, which the restaurant says consist mostly of produce and meats from local, organic and sustainable farms.

The MSC-labeled sushi rolls sell for an average of $7 each, which is in line with the prices for non-MSC items on its menu. According to reports, all the other items on the menu rank as either “Best Choice” or “Good Alternative” on Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Sushi Pocket Guide.

The restaurant’s owner, Kristofor Lofgren, said in a statement that he saw the opportunity to open a sustainable sushi restaurant as a sound business move. “I…want to show that it will contribute to business success,” he says. “I believe people care about how their actions affect the environment and when they are made aware of options, they will support restaurants that demonstrate they are sourcing sustainably.”

Coughlin says that restaurants are MSC's next target in the U.S. market. "A lot of our efforts in earlier years was getting the supply chain certified," she says. "Now we feel we’re in a good position to go to the restaurant industry to say, 'You can get the fish you need.'"

Lofgren is not limiting his sustainability efforts to what he presents on his menu. According to its Web site, Bamboo Sushi is also the first restaurant in the nation to be a “Certified Green Restaurant” by the Green Restaurant Association, a nonprofit that helps restaurants and their customers become more environmentally sustainable conveniently and cost-effectively.