‘Fish Pain Is the Same’ Says Billboard Near Fishing Tournament

PETA Ad Urges Anglers to Stop Tormenting Sensitive Fish for ‘Sport’

For Immediate Release:
July 23, 2018

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

Just ahead of the Northern Division Costa Fishing League Worldwide Series in Buffalo, PETA has placed a giant attention-grabbing billboard near the location of the tournament showing a fish superimposed on a woman’s face with a hook stabbed through their shared mouth. The ad proclaims, “Fish Pain Is the Same. Go Vegan!”

The ad is located on Ohio Street north of Fuhrmann Boulevard, near Safe Harbor Marina.

“Fish feel pain and fear just as all other animals do, yet anglers hook them by their ultra-sensitive mouths, yank them from their aquatic homes, and leave them to suffocate slowly,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “With the billboard, PETA hopes to jolt some compassion into every participant in this cruel spectacle.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—notes that fish have unique personalities, can recognize human faces, and can retain memories and think ahead. Their sensitive mouths are full of nerve endings, and those who are released after they’re hooked often die from their injuries and the loss of their protective outer coating during handling.

Thousands of birds—from bald eagles to cranes—have died or sustained injuries after becoming tangled in discarded fishing lines, which can also ensnare other wildlife. World Animal Protection estimates that discarded fishing gear kills hundreds of thousands of whales, seals, turtles, and birds every year—and a recent study concluded that longline fisheries may kill more than 320,000 seabirds annually.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.