A global hospitality association is urging chefs at its 580 properties, including several in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, to remove threatened seafood species from their menus as part of a major biodiversity initiative.
Relais & Châteaux, a worldwide network of independent hotels and restaurants, says the campaign aligns with its long-standing mission to support the protection and regeneration of marine ecosystems.
Restaurants across Benelux commit to sustainable menus
In the Benelux region, participating properties include Hôtel Heritage, Kasteel van Ordingen, Le Chalet de la Forêt and Restaurant Zilte in Belgium; Hôtel Place d’Armes and Villa Pétrusse in Luxembourg; and Château St. Gerlach, Château Neercanne, Weeshuis Gouda, Het Roode Koper, Central Park Voorburg, Bij Jef (Texel), and Restaurant Da Vinci in the Netherlands.
Relais & Châteaux President Laurent Gardinier commented on the initiative, saying: “We believe that the future of hospitality and gastronomy goes together with protecting biodiversity.
“This collective initiative to remove threatened marine species from our menus reflects our responsibility as the biggest network of gastronomic restaurants in the world to inspire meaningful change.”
The group is asking its member chefs worldwide to stop serving at least one threatened marine species, depending on local stock levels. The commitment should remain in place until the species has recovered to a healthy level.
The list, developed in partnership with NGO Ethic Ocean, includes 18 species whose wild populations are under pressure from overfishing. In Europe, this includes the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), brown crab (Cancer pagurus), European hake (Merluccius merluccius) in the Mediterranean, and Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus).
Sustainability in action during National Ocean Month
Several Benelux properties have already taken action. Château St. Gerlach in Valkenburg, for example, is highlighting sustainably caught seabass at its Restaurant Les Salons during National Ocean Month in June. The fish is sourced from FAO 27, a Northeast Atlantic zone where fishing is responsibly managed.
Les Salons also offers a year-round vegetarian menu, a policy shared by Restaurant Château Neercanne and L’Auberge, both based in Maastricht.
Chef de Cuisine Robert Levels explained: “At Château Neercanne, we’re fortunate to have access to beautiful local ingredients, many of which we grow in our own garden.
“It’s wonderful to complement these with responsibly sourced fish that align with the principles of Relais & Châteaux. And by doing this together with other members, we can truly make an impact.”
Viki Geunes, chef at Zilte in Antwerp, added: “I have stopped serving or do not serve one or more threatened species at my property, and I pledge to keep it off our menu(s) until stocks recover.”
Relais & Châteaux has promoted marine biodiversity since 2009, when it signed the Ethic Ocean charter and committed to removing bluefin tuna from menus across the North-East Atlantic and Mediterranean. That move, along with other conservation efforts, contributed to reversing a sharp decline in tuna populations caused by decades of overfishing.
In 2023, the group expanded its campaign with “SOS for Biodiversity”, asking members to halt the use of various eel species. So far, 84 percent of members report they no longer serve eel, and 34 percent have formally removed it from their menus.
Ethic Ocean and Relais & Châteaux hope that continued commitment from chefs, producers and suppliers alike will drive further progress in protecting vulnerable marine species and supporting sustainable culinary practices.
