Irish food writer and Ballymaloe Cookery School founder Darina Allen has joined more than 120 international chefs in signing an open letter demanding that restaurants remove ocean-farmed salmon from their menus. The “Off the table” campaign, supported by prominent culinary figures such as Italy’s Massimo Bottura and the UK’s Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, targets the rapid expansion of salmon aquaculture and its ecological toll on wild populations.
The Ecological Threat to Wild Salmon
The open letter signed by Allen and her peers states plainly that ocean-farmed salmon has become one of the greatest threats to wild salmon’s future. According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) data cited in campaign materials, salmon aquaculture is the fastest-growing food production system in the world, currently accounting for 70% of the market.
Campaigners argue that this rapid growth carries heavy environmental costs. The WWF notes that farming operations often require an excessive use of chemicals with unintended consequences for marine organisms and human health. Accumulated fish waste and excess feed drive up nutrient levels in surrounding waters, while escaping farmed fish frequently compete and interbreed with local wild stocks, spreading viruses and parasites.
The “Off the Table” Campaign and Global Pledges
The chef-led “Off the table” initiative asks culinary professionals to commit to not serving ocean-farmed salmon until the industry can operate without causing harm. To date, more than 8,700 chefs and restaurants worldwide have signed the pledge, including several establishments in Ireland.
“Ocean-farmed salmon should never have existed at this scale. Not when the cost is wild salmon and all that depends on them,” the coalition’s letter states. “Every menu is a choice about what belongs on our tables. Ocean-farmed salmon does not — not as long as it continues to cause this kind of harm.”
Participating restaurants are tracked on an official campaign website featuring an interactive map, allowing diners to identify which food establishments have opted out of industrial salmon sourcing.
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