‘Did She Die for Your Fish Filet?’ Edgy Ad Greets Visitors to Atlantic City Boardwalk

PETA Billboard Shows a Turtle Trapped in a Fishing Net to Point Out That Lots of Different Animals Die for the Demand for Seafood

For Immediate Release:
May 28, 2020

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

As beaches and boardwalks reopen, PETA has erected a billboard next to Phillips Seafood along the Atlantic City Boardwalk pointing out something most people don’t realize: that today’s fishing industry kills millions of “unintentional” animals every year in addition to the intended targets of fish, who are often crushed to death or gutted alive on the decks of fishing boats.

“People’s appetite for fish is bleeding our oceans dry of all the species who call them home,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is asking everyone who cares about animals to protect aquatic animals of all kinds simply by going vegan, something that’s easy to do—and we’ll help them do it.”

Most fish served in restaurants and supermarkets are caught using huge, sometimes miles-long commercial-fishing nets that stretch across ocean floors and trap “trash catch” such as turtles, dolphins, whales, and seals. Approximately 640,000 tons of fishing gear are left in the oceans every year, and these “ghost nets” can become death traps for animals who get entangled in them. In the case of mammals and turtles, the nets may prevent them from returning to the surface for air, causing them to drown.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. The group offers free vegan starter kits and encourages everyone to try healthy, humane vegan meals such as Gardein’s delicious Golden Fishless Filets.

The ad is located at 1 Atlantic Ave.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.