Sourcing delicious sustainable seafood in Florida
Sustainable seafood is as delicious as it is responsible. We're exploring the most sustainable catches in Florida and where you can enjoy them.
23 Dec 2020
By 2050, fishless seas could be a reality. More than 90 per cent of global fisheries are currently over-exploited, at capacity or have already collapsed. Directly to blame are unsustainable fishing practices that haul in their catch faster than it can mature and reproduce. Yet empty oceans need not be an inevitability. In response to the crisis, customers and restauranteurs are increasingly championing sustainable, responsibly caught seafood. Setting a pioneering example for the global market is Palm Beach, whose long-founded sustainable seafood scene is at the forefront of responsible sourcing. Here, we explore the most delicious fish menus that can be enjoyed around The Chesterfield Palm Beach.
The catch of the day
The crystalline coastal waters of Palm Beach ensure an abundance of local stock, which, given strict Floridian fishing regulations, are sourced in responsible abundance each year. This means a flock of sublime sustainable seafood restaurants plating succulent, locally caught favourites as well as responsibly transported showstoppers such as Alaskan salmon and Chilean sea bass.
To the northwest, Floridian oysters are sustainably grown in Apalachicola Bay, with some wild varieties hand-harvested in the Apalachicola estuary. Just offshore, the versatile tilapia is having huge success as a farmed species, given its fast rate of growth and broad diet. The tropical mahi-mahi, meanwhile, remains a local favourite, wild-caught through pole and troll fishing—both are handline techniques that minimise by-catch.
Fish sourced from further afield, even traditionally over-fished varieties, may also be enjoyed in South Florida, as long as the method of fishing is sustainable and the industry is well-managed. Examples that grace discerning Palm Beach menus include crab from across the US, particularly King, Blue and Stone varieties, line-caught Pacific tuna and Atlantic cod line-caught in US waters.
Where to enjoy it
From marketplace to the restaurant, Palm Beach is replete with sustainable seafood choices. Supplying a host of local restaurants, the family-owned Cod & Capers Seafood marketplace employs a rigorous selection process for its suppliers, its founder personally purchasing and hand-inspecting nearly all stock. In the airy café, guests can choose their fish fresh from the market and have it prepared however they wish.
Meanwhile, the chic neighbourhood icon PB Catch places sustainability at the heart of its menu, with its seafood and raw bar exclusively drawing from the most conscientious of suppliers. Likewise, the Palm Beach Grill painstakingly sources ingredients to ensure both sustainability and freshness. Its True Dover Sole is sourced from the Strait of Dover and responsibly transported to Palm Beach within 24 hours of being caught.
At The Chesterfield Palm Beach’s The Leopard Lounge & Restaurant, Executive Chef Gerard Coughlin has created a menu of Anglo-American favourites that make use of the east coast’s—and southern Florida’s, more specifically—rich variety of sustainable seafood. Favourites include the light zest of the Maryland-style lump crab cake as well as the seared diver scallops, paired delicately with Parmesan risotto and lemon beurre blanc.
Stay at The Chesterfield Palm Beach to experience southern Florida’s exceptional approach to sustainable, haute-fare seafood.