‘SEAFOOD WITH CERTAINTY': Gulf Wild is born in Destin (PHOTOS)

Proponents of our Gulf's seafood set out on a mission to prove it is safe for consumption April 10.

The Gulf of Mexico's Reef Fish Shareholders' Alliance brought in Top Chef Masters finalist Rick Moonen to speak about his dedication to sustainability, the safety of the Gulf's seafood and perform a cooking demonstration using that very seafood.

Moonen has been an advocate of sustainability for more than 20 years and is on the advisory panel of the Shareholders' Alliance and its Gulf Wild program.

"We want this to be a kickoff to restoring people's confidence in seafood from the Gulf," said Destin Mayor Sam Seevers. "And what better place to restore the public's confidence than on this historic site, where in 1845 Leonard Destin first landed and built this town on seafood. Fishing in Destin is part of the DNA of Destin."

The event was held at Dewey Destin's harbor-side seafood restaurant in Destin.

Dewey Destin is a fifth-generation fisherman.

"The Gulf's seafood is safe for consumption," said Destin. "This is the most tested seafood ever and the tests show it exceeding government standards for safety."

Moonen is the executive chef/owner of Rick Moonen's rm Seafood Restaurant at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Moonen joined in talks six months ago of how to restore consumer confidence in Gulf seafood and the Gulf Wild program was born.

Gulf Wild founders took the opportunity on Sunday to launch a new program of tracking Gulf seafood through tagging, which they dub "seafood with certainty," a program developed "by fishermen for fishermen."

"Tagging is a prototype of the future and a bold move to restore confidence in Gulf of Mexico seafood," launch attendees were told.

Once a fish is tagged and numbered, a consumer, chef, or retail buyer can punch the number on the tag into www.mygulfwild.com and learn where the fish was caught, the name of the captain and boat that caught it — a step to eliminate fraudulent claims of selling a cheaper fish labeled as snapper or grouper. Ultimately, seafood becomes trackable to its source.

Gulf Wild is the first to provide tracking of Gulf of Mexico seafood back to its original suppliers, down to a 10-square-mile harvesting area.

The program is a partnership with the Department of Agriculture.

"This is a move to restore consumer confidence," said David Krebs, president of Ariel Seafoods and the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders' Alliance.

For more information visit http://ShareholdersAlliance.org and http://myGulfWild.com.