Seattle-area restaurants forgo chinook salmon due to orca's plight

Photos that circulated earlier in August of J-35 – the name given to a Puget Sound resident orca who kept her dead calf afloat for more than two weeks – left a lasting impression on many in the Seattle area, who wondered what they could do to help the pod, many of whom are malnourished due to a lack of salmon in their habitat. 

The answer has come to some quicker than expected: Some Seattle-area restaurants have stopped serving king (chinook) salmon, as it is the primary source of food for orca whales in the Sound.

Marine researchers have acknowledged that the number of king salmon in Puget Sound have plummeted in the past decade. The fish aren’t growing as large as they used to either. 

“It’s an easy sacrifice to make,” said Matt Mead, marketing director for West Seattle’s Vine and Spoon restaurant, to KOMO News. “The plight of the orcas right now is so tragic so it’s important to maintain their food resource. It was very simple and no-brainer to take off the king salmon from our menu to help our environment.” 

In addition to Vine and Spoon, local celebrity chef Renee Erickson’s restaurants The Whale Wins, Walrus, and Carpenter aren’t serving the salmon either. 

In an interview with KOMO News, Molly Vinton, a local diner, said humans can choose from many different kinds of seafood for dinner, whereas orcas aren’t afforded the same luxury.

“I just don’t think that we are taking enough consideration of our marine life as opposed to our animal life,” Vinton said. “Chinook salmon is really delicious but I think that it’s important that we put the needs of animals that are in danger or that are at risk of being in danger before our own.”