Elisa Allen, Peta’s vice-president of programmes, said: “Fish are animals with feelings who can experience pain just as much as our animal companions can, yet fishers haul them out of the ocean, causing them to suffocate, and gut them while they’re still conscious.
“Everyone deserves protection from abuse, and Peta is reminding Grimbarians that sea animals all have a will to live and don’t want to die for human dinners.”
Peta says it opposes ‘speciesism’
The group said it opposes “speciesism”, which it deems to be a “human-supremacist worldview” which entitles humans to use animals for their purposes. It argues that, like humans, fish “share knowledge and have long memories as well as cultural traditions”.
“Some woo potential partners by creating intricate works of art in the sand on the ocean floor, yet more fish are killed for food each year than all other animals combined,” it added in a statement.
“In addition, 38m tonnes of other aquatic animals are unintentionally caught annually as the industry aims to satisfy consumer demand.”
In 2009, a campaign called Fishlove was launched to promote marine life and raise awareness about illegal fishing and pollution.
Thought to be inspired by Peta’s ‘I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur’ campaign, Fishlove saw a host of celebrities posing naked with various types of fish.
The campaign featured a topless Sir Ben Kingsley looking earnestly into the camera while cradling a baby octopus in his hands, while the actress Emilia Fox held a larger octopus to her ink-splattered bosom.
Lizzy Jagger, the model daughter of rockstar Mick Jagger, was also photographed in the nude straddling a large bluefin tuna.
