With protections or bans on both animals, halibut is disappearing from Icelandic restaurants, and guillemot is on the wane.
As previously reported, fishing halibut in Icelandic waters became officially banned last December 31, due to dangerously low stocks. As a result, many restaurants have started taking the fish off their menus altogether.
RÚV reports that Garðar Kári Garðarsson, a chef at Fiskfélagið, regrets that they have had to take halibut off of their menu. While admitting that they could sell frozen halibut, he considers it beneath the standards of the restaurant, as it just does not taste the same as fresh fish. At the same time, fresh halibut from abroad is prohibitively expensive.
A group working for the Ministry for the Environment has also submitted a proposal which would protect five different types of guillemots, seabirds known in Icelandic as svartfugl, over the next five years. Garðar believes these birds will soon start to disappear from menus as well, which he also finds regrettable, as they are among the tastiest of Icelandic fowl.
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