PETA Launches Anti-Fishing Campaign In Leading Fishing Port

For Immediate Release:
15 August 2003

Contact:
Dawn Carr 020 7357 9229, ext 224

Grimsby, UK — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is unveiling its anti-fishing billboard, which features sultry supermodel Carré Otis’ swimming underwater, dressed as a sexy mermaid, with the tagline ‘Try to Relate to Who’s on Your Plate’. The billboard, which splashes down on 16 August, steers motorists toward PETA’s Web site FishingHurts.com and will be located close to the Grimsby docks, on Cleethorpes Road at the corner of Freeman Street.

Why is PETA asking Grimsby residents to cut fish some slack? A study just published by the Royal Society confirms the findings of other studies, as well as what many marine biologists have been saying for years: Fish feel pain, just as all animals do. Commercially-caught fish are often cut open while they are still alive or are left to die slowly – gasping, struggling and suffocating. Another study, published in a recent issue of the journal Nature, revealed that the populations of species such as swordfish, tuna, marlin and cod have declined by 90 per cent in recent decades. The collapse of fish populations has led to an increase in fish farming, where overcrowding, genetic manipulation, fin damage, lice and antibiotic and hormone treatment are commonplace.

Fish is not health food. Fish flesh (both wild and farmed) often contains toxic levels of mercury and PCBs – carcinogens that have been linked to many kinds of cancer. In addition, the Food Standards Agency have recently warned that mercury in fish may harm babies and unborn children.

PETA is offering free vegetarian starter kits to those who wish to kick the fish habit, and pop star Moby has lent a hand by setting up a free hotline on 0800 328 9621, where callers can order their starter kits and hear his fish-friendly message.

‘The commercial fishing industry is like the whalers of old – hurting, killing and leaving the seas bloody’, says PETA Director Dawn Carr. ‘The easiest way to help fish and other animals is to get hooked on compassion and go vegetarian.’

A copy of the billboard art is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA’s Web site FishingHurts.com.