Palm | Kelapa Sawit

“Robert De Niro's restaurant chain sells endangered tuna”!!!! And the worst part is that they called the Bluefin something else so that their customers wouldn’t know.

Charles Clover , a writer for the Telegraph located in London, notes that an undercover operation has found that De Niro is selling an endangered species on his London restaurant menu. “A Michelin-starred restaurant chain part-owned by the actor Robert De Niro is serving endangered bluefin tuna at its London outlets without telling customers, DNA tests have shown.” Can you believe it! “If you were served up something labeled as 'steak' in a restaurant, and only found out later that you had eaten tiger or rhinoceros meat, you would be outraged.” (Click here for original article)

Nobu, the restaurant in question, responded by adding a disclaimer to their menu:

“Based on certain research models and theories of wildlife reproduction, a group of research biologists lists this fish as endangered. Enjoy with a refreshing saké .”

I would have expected a much larger response from the public for De Niro’s menu choices. Especially considering that they serve some of the greenest elites in Hollywood, Madonna and Leonardo DiCapprio for example.

The Bluefin seems to be no less endangered than the dolphin, so why the difference.

I believe this is caused by “cute eye,” meaning if the animal doesn’t have cute eyes then it is okay to eat them. It is easy to care about the cute dolphins or the plush adorable looking polar bears, but it is not as easy to care about a scaly slimy fish.

It is too bad that these types of investigations are not gaining momentum among reputable animal rights/conservationist groups. “Findings of the investigation will be highlighted in a feature-length documentary film entitled The End of the Line, to be released next year.”

-Jennifer Jorguson

Images: Courtesy of Green Daily: http://www.greendaily.com/tag/endangered/page/2/