PETA Names the Top 10 Vegan Seafood Dishes in the U.S.

Ahead of Fish Amnesty Day, PETA Gives a Nod to Creative, Delicious Fish-Free Meals Making ‘Waves’ From Coast to Coast

For Immediate Release:
September 26, 2019

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Just in time for Fish Amnesty Day on September 28—and to put a fish-friendly spin on National Seafood Month (October)—PETA has set out to show that vegan food is everywhere by naming the Top 10 Vegan Seafood Dishes of 2019. The dishes are all available at otherwise meat-heavy restaurants that heard the booming demand for vegan fare and wisely delivered.

Standouts on the list include the vegan crab cakes made from hearts of palm and chickpeas and drizzled with vegan rémoulade sauce from the Mad Batter Restaurant & Bar in Cape May, New Jersey; the veggie-packed “tuna” melt offered by Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C.; and the Vegan Fry Combo at Sea Ranger Seafood Station in Ventura, California, which consists of two golden fishless filets and crispy vegan shrimp served with fries, dairy-free coleslaw, and a secret (vegan) sauce.

“From vegan seafood platters to crustacean-free crab cakes, each of these special dishes packs a punch of fuel and flavor and keeps aquatic animals swimming free in their ocean homes, where they belong,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “All the restaurants on PETA’s list are contributing to a sea change in eating habits, moving toward eco- and animal-friendly vegan dining.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that sea animals feel pain, yet fish are gutted on the decks of fishing boats, live lobsters are dropped into boiling water, and crabs are dismembered while still conscious. And because fish absorb contaminants from the water in which they live, their flesh is laced with toxins, such as mercury, lead, arsenic, PCBs, pesticides, and even industrial-strength fire retardant. Every person who goes vegan prevents nearly 200 animals a year—including fish and other marine life who are hauled out of the sea and left to bleed to death or suffocate on the decks of fishing boats—from being abused and slaughtered.

PETA opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. The group offers a variety of recipes for delicious vegan seafood dishes on its website as well as a vegan starter kit full of recipes, tips on dining out, and more. For more information and to see the complete list of winners, please visit PETA.org or click here.