Xanterra Parks & Resorts Adds Wild Alaskan Salmon to its Sustainable Cuisine Program

Denver, Colorado, USA: Summer 2003: National park and resort concessioner Xanterra Parks & Resorts will serve wild Alaskan salmon - and discontinue use of farmed salmon - in several of its national park and resort restaurants.

The program supports Xanterra's ongoing and widely recognized commitment to preservation of the environment. Xanterra will serve wild Alaskan salmon in its restaurants in Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks and at four Ohio State Park Resorts.

Wild Alaskan salmon is chemical- and antibiotic-free and harvested in a sustainable fashion without the environmental impacts associated with farm-raised salmon. Wild Alaskan salmon is one of only a few fisheries in the world certified "sustainable" by the Marine Stewardship Council's (MSC) international program for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. MSC is an independent non-profit organization that works to enhance responsible management of seafood resources.

In order to facilitate the addition of wild Alaskan salmon to its menus, Xanterra also has launched a partnership with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) to promote wild Alaskan salmon to park visitors through employee training and creation of educational materials. ASMI was created as a cooperative partnership between the seafood industry and state government in Alaska. Its purpose is to advance the mutually beneficial goal of a stable seafood industry in Alaska.

"The wild-vs.-farmed debate will undoubtedly continue for many years, but it is our determination now that the use of wild Alaskan salmon is better for the environment and clearly more in line with our company-wide commitment to the preservation of the earth's natural resources," said Chris Lane, director of environmental affairs for Xanterra Parks & Resorts. "The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute has been diligently working to get the word out about the benefits of wild Alaskan salmon, and through our educational outreach programs in our restaurants, we are in a position to help further the Institute's goals."

More than 60 percent of the world's commercial fish resources are in danger of being impaired or threatened with commercial extinction because of the way they are harvested, said Lane. The ecological impact of fish farming - including pollution, disease transmission, genetic dilution, toxins and threats to species such as seals and sea lions - is now well-documented, he said.

Wild Alaskan salmon also has been added to Xanterra's "recommended species" list, as part of the company's seafood policy. The policy - announced in 2001 - includes recommendations of sustainable seafoods as well as an outright ban on certain kinds of seafoods that have been determined to be harmful to the environment. Xanterra will not serve Chilean Sea Bass (Patagonian Toothfish), Atlantic Swordfish, all species of Shark and Bluefin Tuna.

Xanterra chose wild Alaskan salmon for recommendation in part because Alaska has built its commitment to preservation of the species into its State Constitution, ensuring that wild Alaskan salmon will always be sustainable. The wild Alaskan salmon industry is of critical importance to Alaska. Salmon farms have been outlawed in Alaska for 13 years. As an important part of the state's natural ecosystem, the perpetually healthy wild Alaskan salmon species also supports the state's bears, eagles and other birds and mammals.

The wild salmon population has become commercially extinct due to over-fishing and other issues in 84 percent of the U.S. rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean. While once thought to be the technique that would rescue a dying industry, fish farming - sometimes called aquaculture - has become instead a threat to the restoration of wild salmon stocks worldwide.