Vegan tuna is now available at Yuzu Sushi in Canada. Sixty locations of the sushi chain will plate up Ahimi, a plant-based “raw tuna” made from tomatoes.

Ocean Hugger Foods, that makes the vegan fish, said it is “thrilled to partner with the Yuzu team, who is committed to offering menu options that are sustainable and ocean-friendly.”

Yuzu Corporate Chef Yanick Comeau said in a statement, “We owe it to ourselves to be concerned about our planet, its resources, and its living beings. At Yuzu Sushi, it’s important that these concerns be reflected in the recipes we develop.”

Ahimi is made with tomatoes and a few simple ingredients. According to Ocean Hugger, the appearance and texture of the product is “indistinguishable” from raw tuna, allowing seafood-lovers to enjoy tuna in a healthy, safe way without harming the oceans.

The chef said that when he stumbled upon the vegan tuna he was “amazed by the quality of it.”

“The product is tasty and easy to work with. Ahimi satisfies the sushi lover with its umami flavor; it’s the perfect alternative to replace tuna,” he added.

The vegan fish will be used in a variety of dishes including Ahimi Nigiri, Aihimi Roll, Eye of the Tiger Roll, Midori Hosomaki, Marinara Sushi Pizza, VG Poke Bowl, Salsa Yuzumaki, and VG Spring Roll.

Sustainable Seafood

“Overfishing is destroying our oceans,” Ocean Hugger states. The practice has led to the severe decline of multiple fish populations. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the number of overfished stocks around the world has tripled in half a centurym and one-third of the world’s assessed fisheries are being pushed beyond their biological limits.

Overfishing also leads to issues like bycatch, whereby various marine life is collected and killed accidentally in the process of fishing other species. WWF names bycatch a “serious marine threat that causes the needless loss of billions of fish, along with hundreds of thousands of sea turtles and cetaceans.”

Some companies are turning to cruelty-free fish to address these issues. Finless Foods is creating lab-grown seafood to help save the dwindling bluefin tuna population, that is classed as endangered due to fishing practices.

Vegan seafood brand Good Catch aims to use its fishless tuna and other seafood products to help stop the “relentless and indiscriminate killing of marine life” that is “devastating ocean ecosystems,” said Good Catch’s co-founders and co-CEOs Chris Kerr and Eric Schnell.

They added, “The only truly sustainable seafood is seafood that allows fish to remain in the ocean.”