Hotel Group Removes Shark Fin From Menus in Asia

Shark fin is considered to be a delicacy in some countries, but one hotel group is now removing the item from their menus. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is removing shark fin from their menu in all of the hotels in Asia.

As part of their commitment to help the environment and their pledge to offer sustainable seafood choices to conserve marine species, the luxury Fairmont Hotel chain is taking shark fin off the menu. The ingredient has cultural and traditional signifigance, but in addition to hurting the environment by using it, shark fin is mostly flavorless.

"We're proud to be at the forefront of the movement to stop serving shark fin. It's a logical step for Fairmont, given our decades long work in greening our hotels and our focus on providing guests with meals that are not only good for them, but also good for the planet," said Jean Michel Offe, Fairmont's vice-president, food & beverage in a press release. "Our hotels are constantly seeking ways to be more ethical in their menu choices and have removed other at risk species under the guidance of reputable seafood watch organizations. Simply put, it's the right thing to do."

In 2009, Fairmont launched the Sustainable Seafood initiative in their Asian hotels such as Fairmont Singapore, Fairmont Beijing, Fairmont Yangcheng Lake and the iconic Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai. Now these hotels will no longer carry shark fin on the menu in their restaurants or for room service. The hotels will still offer alternative options on their menus. They also want to educate guests and colleagues on sustainable food choices that help conserve marine resources.

Fairmont Singapore removed shark fin soup from its menus in 2009. Now, when selecting products, they follow the World Wildlife Fund's Singapore Seafood Guide. As alternatives, the hotel serves soup made up of mud crab meat, which is a flavorful substitute. They also serve other delectable seafood dishes like oysters and green lipped mussels.

Fairmont Beijing became the first hotel in China to remove shark fin from its menu. In order to keep the texture and consistency that shark fin has, Chinese chefs use ingredients like lobster, crab, and scallops, which have received positive feedback from customers.

Shark fin isn't the only item that is no longer on the menu at Fairmont Hotels. In 2009, they also removed two at-risk species, Bluefin Tuna and Chilean Sea Bass, from all hotel menus worldwide. The hotels work with groups that provide fish that are and harvested in ways that limit damage to marine or aquatic habitats. The hotels also purchases local, organic food items to be used in all of their dishes.

Fairmont has tried to be environmentally friendly for many years. Fairmont's Green Partnership program has been the company's award-winning environmental program focused on minimizing the impact of hotel operations on the environment for more than 20 years. Some of their other environmentally friendly practices include recycling and organic waste diversion in hotel kitchens, a green conferencing solution dubbed Eco-Meet, creating rooftop herb gardens and bee apiaries at properties, and redistributing gently used goods and food to those in need.

Fairmont also pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emission, becoming the first luxury hotel group to address climate change. By 2013, the hotel chain, which is a member of the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers program, hopes to reduce its operational CO₂ emissions from its existing hotels to 20% below 2006 levels.