It’s an international seafood initiative that nets benefits for the local environment of Mai Khao, its village communities, and guests of neighbouring JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa on Mai Khao Beach, which drives the project.
As part of a corporate agreement with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the hotel has put working toprotect its environment and supporting localcommunities high on its business agenda.
Part of this involves engaging with the headmen and headwomen of nearby villages;helping them educate their communitieson sourcing sustainable seafood, to benefit and preserve their local ecosystems.
This means making sure catches are not of overfished species and caught with methods that don’t damage marine habitats like corals, or other species such as turtles and dolphins.
As a result, JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa is now supplied with sustainable seafood from nearby communities certified by IUCN as responsible suppliers of Lobster, Black Crab, Sea Bass and Tiger Prawn.
With hungry guests eager to sample the delights of Phuket’s famed seafood, this is a win-win for everyone involved. The guests are filled with culinary satisfaction, the environment’s ecosystem is sustained, and the villages have a growing income stream.
In 2014, the first year of the project, the villages involved generated revenue of THB 500,000; in 2015 this tripled to THB 1.9 million, and 2016 saw the figure soar well over THB 2 million.
Two local fisheries in the programme are the Sea Gypsy community of Tha Chat Chai village near Sarasin Bridge, which provides Lobster and Shrimp; and eight households of Mai Khao village in the mangrove forest who hunt and gather Black Crabs. Back at the hotel’s Andaman Grill Seafood & Steakhouse their sustainable seafood is married with local ingredients and seasonal products – all organic and fresh from nearby farms – in a variety of traditional dishes created by Executive Sous Chef David Morell and Chef Tanasub Trisub.
Highlights of their Sustainable Seafood Menu include Sarasin Bridge Prawn Salad – with fresh pomelo, avocado, cherry tomatoes and coriander; White Snapper – with white beans, basil, roasted tomatoes and black olive salsa; and Andaman Sea Bass fillet – with fennel confit, cherry tomato jam, rosemary and olive oil.
The seafood is also central to the Ancient Wild set menu at the hotel’s Ginja Taste restaurant that celebrates the wild flavours of Phuket’s rainforests and fisheries, perfected through the centuries.
Guests can also opt to don a chef’s apron and take part in Chef Tanasub Trisub’s Ancient Wild Cooking Class at Ginja Taste, that includes visits to a colourful local market and the seafood-producing villages, for a complete farm-to-plate experience.
To grab your own dish of sustainable seafood catch: jwmarriottphuket.com