Lobsters are often on the menu at chef Guy Turland’s home. Not because he’s a multimillionaire – although his laid-back cafe-restaurant on Bondi Beach, The Depot, is doing very well, thanks for asking – but because the 36-year-old surfer, spear fisherman and free diver loves nothing more than going out into the ocean and catching his own.
His other favourite sustainably caught seafood is kingfish. “They’re quite decadent and rich and fancy ingredients,” he says, after a busy Friday lunch service. “But being a restaurant owner, I’ll take my wins where I can.”
Chef Guy Turland, an Icebergs and Est graduate, first opened The Depot in 2007.
The son of a builder, Turland grew up in Bowral, in country New South Wales, where he developed a deep understanding of where food comes from and who grows it. After moving to Sydney to begin his hospitality career he fell in love with spear fishing, free diving and hunting for his own food, underwater.
“I think as soon as you start to put your head underwater and look for your own fish you get an understanding of the wider environment, where things come from and how everything has a kind of connection,” he says. “And definitely the fear of what could happen if that balance is completely ruined through poor practice and greed.”
The experience started him on a journey to strive for a better ecological future, for future generations. “If we can leave the world better when we’ve gone, we’ve done our job. And I think we all have a responsibility to do that.”
Does sustainably caught seafood taste any better? “I really do believe so,” he says. “And I think the reason is that part of a sustainable practice is looking after those animals and making sure that they’ve been harvested quickly and responsibly and ethically. And when I say ethically … when a fish gets pulled up, it’s put to sleep as quick as possible. In that process, if it’s not looked after, if it’s suffered, if there’s a long, terrible kind of experience for that animal, all of those hormones go into the flesh itself. And I do believe that does change the flavour.”
“If we can leave the world better when we’ve gone, we’ve done our job. And I think we all have a responsibility to do that”
Turland’s outspoken passion for sustainable seafood soon caught the eye of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) – an international not-for-profit organisation that recognises and rewards efforts to protect oceans and safeguards seafood supplies for the future – and he says the relationship he’s had with the MSC over the past couple of years has flourished. “It’s something that I’m really proud to be a part of.”
Turland’s sustainable philosophy also extends beyond fish on a plate. Whether
it’s buying ethical ingredients, carrying a reusable coffee cup, not using plastic, or picking up plastic rubbish when he sees it, Turland says it’s about trying. “We can’t expect people to be perfect,” he says. Better millions of people doing sustainability imperfectly than a handful doing it perfectly.
Sustainability extends to all facets of Turland’s life, including his pets. He says he was already feeding his two rescue cats, Nim and Spike, a quality pet food when he noticed Dine (owned by Mars Petcare Australia) had produced a high-quality new product with an MSC blue tick (a packaging mark that certifies ingredients include sustainable seafood caught from healthy, wild fish populations). It was a no-brainer to switch.
“And they bloody love it, to be honest,” he laughs. “We feed them every morning, every afternoon and then dry kibble in between. Where we can make small changes, I think we should. And swapping from a non-sustainable cat food to a sustainable cat food, it has no impact on my life, it doesn’t make my life any harder, but I know that it does make a difference.”
Guy takes the intimidation out of smoking fish at home with this smoked salmon recipe.
At this year’s MSC Sustainable Seafood Awards Australia, DineⓇ Fresh & Fine adult wet cat food in jelly tuna and salmon was joint winner of the best sustainable seafood product category. It’s not the first time Dine has been recognised for its support of our oceans, and comes on the back of the brand’s ongoing partnership with the MSC as well as its campaign to promote reef restoration and sustainable fishing.
It may be just cat food but it’s an important example of what Turland believes is key to ensuring our oceans remain viable and protected for future generations. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my money to go to someone who’s ruining the ocean, I want to make sure that my hard-earned cash is supporting a system that’s sustainable and beneficial.”
So, next time you are at the supermarket look out for sustainably sourced ingredients, and talk to your fishmonger. “The more that you ask that question, ‘is my seafood sustainable and where does it come from?’, the more likely the entire system is going to change,” Turland says. “Because ultimately, it’s driven by the consumer.”
Dine is leading the world’s largest coral reef conservation project. Find out more.
