Those serene waters make for more than just a stunning backdrop. They’re also the source of a wide array of fish and other seafood. Vancouver is a leader in the push toward seafood sustainability, a responsible practice that local chefs — including those at the Fairmont — have fully embraced.

Canada’s movement toward sustainable seafood began in Vancouver in the early 2000s when marine advocates and chefs sought solutions to overfishing worldwide. In 2005, the Vancouver Aquarium partnered with local chefs to launch the Ocean Wise conservation program, modeled on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, a guide to sustainable fish consumption.

Even sushi chefs at major hotels are getting into the game. A native of Japan, Taka Omi worked for several years in Toronto before moving to the Fairmont Pacific Rim. He was drawn by the wide variety of local fish in the coastal city. “So many choices we have,” the sushi chef says, citing albacore tuna, sablefish, scallops and prawns. “I think we have more variety than anybody else.”

At the Fairmont Pacific Rim’s RawBar in the Lobby Lounge, Omi has long had an interest in preserving fish stocks. In 2014, RawBar went from simply featuring responsibly harvested fish to serving only Ocean Wise approved seafood. It became Vancouver’s first sushi restaurant to do so. The Pacific Rim’s executive chef Nathan Brown fully supports Omi’s vision. “If a supplier says, ‘Sorry, it’s not Ocean Wise,’ then I reply, ‘Sorry, then we won’t be buying it.’ It’s as simple as that.”

The Pacific Rim’s pièce de résistance is the Ocean Wise Roll, the RawBar’s presentation of 15 types of sustainable seafood, says executive chef Brown. “Anything that’s in the sushi window that evening gets put into that roll, even Dungeness crab, then you have a piece of salmon, a piece of steelhead,” and other fresh local specialties.

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