More Than 120 Chefs from Around the World Have Pledged to Stop Serving Ocean-Farmed Salmon

Chefs include heavyweights Francis Mallmann, Matthew Raiford and Alice Waters who commit to using their influence to call for responsible seafood production.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, September 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — More than 120 notable chefs have signed an open letter stating they have stopped serving ocean-farmed salmon until it can be produced without causing unacceptable harm to wild salmon, marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

The letter, which is being published today by the Off The Table campaign in major newspapers around the world, asks all chefs to reconsider an ingredient that has become ubiquitous on menus and to use their leadership and purchasing power to support responsible seafood and production methods.

The campaign at a glance:

• The declaration: In an open letter to their fellow chefs, the chefs have pledged to no longer serve ocean-farmed Atlantic salmon.
• The conditions: The chefs are taking ocean-farmed salmon off their menus until it can be produced without harming marine life, environments and economies.
• The credentials: Restaurants led by the signatories collectively hold more than 90 current MICHELIN Stars. Six signatories have led restaurants named No. 1 on the World’s Best 50 Restaurants list.
• The moment: The chefs’ letter runs in newspapers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Iceland.
• The ask: Take ocean-farmed salmon off the table. Chefs, restaurants, retailers and consumers can all take the pledge at OffTheTable.org.

“Chefs have helped make salmon an everyday ingredient, available everywhere, in every season. We have a responsibility to ask what that abundance costs,” says Argentine chef Francis Mallmann. “We cannot keep serving something simply because it is familiar, profitable or easy to buy. If the way it is produced is damaging the natural world, we have to change. That is what this letter asks of our profession.”

The signatories, representing 26 countries on six continents, include many names well-known in the culinary world. In addition to Mallmann, Matthew Raiford and Alice Waters, they include Massimo Bottura, Dan Barber, Joan Roca, Mauro Colagreco, Virgilio Martínez, Ángel León, Michael Cimarusti, Grant Achatz, Gabriela Cámara, Norbert Niederkofler, Enrique Olvera and Eneko Atxa.

Restaurants led by the signatories collectively hold more than 90 MICHELIN Stars. Sixteen of those are three-star restaurants. Six signatories have led restaurants named No. 1 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list — El Celler de Can Roca, Osteria Francescana, Mirazur, Geranium, Central and the current No. 1, Mitsuharu “Micha” Tsumura’s Maido in Lima, Peru — with many others recognized across the World’s 50 Best rankings and by the James Beard Foundation.

— Changing What’s on the Menu —

The commitment is already translating into changes on menus at all types of eateries, including at venues like Los Angeles’s Hollywood Bowl, where chef Suzanne Goin is replacing ocean-farmed salmon with salmon raised in a closed, land-based system.

“At the Hollywood Bowl, we serve thousands of people, so the choices we make have to work at scale,” Goin says. “We’ve moved away from ocean-farmed salmon and are using salmon raised in a closed, land-based system. It shows that chefs can make a different choice without asking guests to give up a food they love. The more of us who make that choice, the more we can help create demand for better ways of producing food.”

The chefs are encouraging greater seafood diversity, seasonal and local fish, responsibly produced alternatives and production methods that do not carry the same ecological costs as salmon farmed in sea cages.

Investment and sustainable feed innovation are needed to scale land-based systems like the one Goin has adopted. These systems have the benefit of producing the same product that consumers expect, without threatening marine environments and wild salmon populations.

— The Hidden Costs of Everyday Salmon —

Industrial ocean farming has made salmon ubiquitous in grocery stores and restaurants. But that abundance can obscure what is disappearing in the wild.

Wild Atlantic salmon populations have declined 80% since the 1970s, with only an estimated 2.5 million remaining worldwide. Meanwhile, 650 million Atlantic salmon are raised in ocean cages each year.

Some salmon farms are better managed than others, and better practices matter. But sea cages share one defining feature: They are open to the surrounding sea. Waste, sea lice, disease, pesticides, antibiotics and escaped fish can interact with surrounding ecosystems and wild salmon migration routes, causing harm to already vulnerable populations.

The feed used in sea cages carries additional costs. The wild-caught forage fish fed to ocean-farmed salmon include species that other marine life and subsistence fishers in food-insecure regions depend on for survival.

— ‘Not Just Another Ingredient’ —

The chefs’ letter serves as a call to rethink the assumption that salmon should be available everywhere, year-round. They encourage a more diverse approach to seafood that reflects seasonality, provenance and the resources of each region.

“This is not about simply replacing ocean-farmed salmon only with expensive wild salmon,” says American chef Alice Waters. “It is about recovering a more diverse way of eating — choosing seafood that is local and seasonal, supporting better methods of production and making those choices available to everyone. Chefs can help change what people expect from a meal, but the goal is a food system in which better choices are not a luxury.”

The chefs argue that labels such as “responsibly raised,” “organic” and “ocean-raised” do not change the underlying production system; neither do marketing images that convey pristine cold-water environments.

“In Newfoundland, wild salmon is not just another ingredient,” says Canadian chef Jeremy Charles. “It is part of our rivers, our food culture and the way people understand this place. When those fish disappear, we lose something that cannot simply be replaced. Chefs have a responsibility to protect the places that give our food its meaning.”

The chefs joining the conversation are a diverse group that includes four former winners of The World’s Best Female Chef — Dominique Crenn, Ana Roš, Pía León and Elena Reygadas — and former Latin America’s Best Female Chef winners Narda Lepes and Manu Buffara.

The signatories also include some of the most influential voices on sustainability and food culture, such as seafood authorities Josh Niland and Michael Cimarusti, and food-system leaders Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Sam Kass and Mark Bittman.

— Off The Table Across New York City —

The chefs’ letter, which additional chefs will be able to sign after publication, is part of Off The Table’s Climate Week programming. Two hand-painted murals are on display now through Oct. 18: a Manhattan mural (Lafayette St. & Astor Pl.) focused on the future of food and a Gowanus mural (3rd St. & 3rd Ave.) about the hidden realities of ocean farming. Patagonia’s Brooklyn store will host an Off The Table & Patagonia Provisions event on Sept. 22. Learn more, read the letter and explore seafood alternatives at OffTheTable.org.

— About the Campaign —

This campaign brings together a group of influential organizations, including the Atlantic Salmon Federation, North Atlantic Salmon Fund, Protect Maine, Living Oceans, Patagonia Provisions, LOOP Tackle and the Global Salmon Farming Resistance, that are deeply invested in protecting the fragile ecosystems that salmon and countless other species depend on. Off The Table is partnering with chefs on this initiative by providing them with information about ocean farming, consumer education and practical seafood alternatives.

— About Off The Table —

Off The Table is a coalition campaign coordinated by WildFish, an independent charity working to protect wild fish populations and the ecosystems that depend on them. The campaign raises awareness of the environmental impacts of ocean salmon farming and supports chefs, restaurants and consumers in shifting toward seafood and production methods that do not carry the same ecological costs. It advocates for a food system that makes better choices accessible across communities, menus and price points. Learn more at OffTheTable.org and WildFish.org.
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— Media Contacts —

For expert commentary:
Neville Crabbe
Atlantic Salmon Federation
ncrabbe@asf.ca
(506) 467-6804

For media coordination and interview requests:
Adam Hymans
Resource Media
adam@resource-media.org

Adam Hymans
Resource Media
adam@resource-media.org

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