Will Fish Be Dealt a Losing Hand at Las Vegas Restaurant ‘Get Tanked’?

PETA’s letter to Wayde King and Brett Raymer follows.

For Immediate Release:
September 15, 2016

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

Wayde King and Brett Raymer have built a career designing aquariums for the rich and famous on Animal Planet’s Tanked—which is why their plan to open a restaurant in Las Vegas prompted PETA to send a letter this morning requesting that fish be kept off the menu. PETA points out in the letter that fish caught in huge commercial fishing nets endure the agony of decompression as they’re hauled up from the deep, while farmed fish spend their entire lives in filthy, cramped enclosures—making the serving of fish flesh a cruel practice that’s the antithesis of protecting sea life.

“Serving fish at a restaurant filled with aquariums would be like serving poodle burgers at a dog show or monkey nuggets at a zoo,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA stands ready to help Get Tanked serve delicious faux fish, which would spare beautiful, sensitive animals the pain of being netted, dragged from their ocean home, and left to suffocate on the decks of fishing boats.”

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat.” For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to Wayde King and Brett Raymer follows.

September 15, 2016

Wayde King and Brett Raymer

Acrylic Tank Manufacturing

C/o Michael C. Skouras, Ben-Salz Productions, LLC

Dear Messrs. King and Raymer,

I hope this letter finds you well. I’m writing on behalf of PETA and our more than 5 million members and supporters worldwide with an exciting proposal: Celebrate sea life by serving only delicious faux fish at your new restaurant in Las Vegas.

As designers of aquariums, you likely know that biologists have demonstrated that fish feel pain, experience fear, communicate and develop relationships with one another, show affection by gently rubbing against other fish, and even grieve when their companions die. When fish are caught in huge commercial fishing nets and then hauled up from the deep, the intense internal pressure caused by decompression ruptures their swim bladders, pops their eyes out of their faces, and pushes their esophagi and stomachs out through their mouths. Farmed fish also suffer, as they spend their entire lives on top of each other in cramped enclosures, and flesh-eating sea lice can be so rampant on the farms that parts of many fish are eaten down to the bone.

Serving fish at an aquarium is like serving poodle burgers at a dog show. Eating fish also poses a health risk to your patrons. Fish absorb contamination from the water in which they live, so their flesh becomes laced with toxins such as mercury, lead, arsenic, PCBs, pesticides, and even industrial-strength fire retardant. So in addition to being cruel, serving fish flesh may also poison your patrons.

We hope to hear that you’ll encourage diners to help fish by serving only vegan options, such as fish-free fillets, crabless cakes, vegan shrimp, or vegan scallops. We’d be happy to help you incorporate these dishes into your menu, and we’d love to promote the exciting options to our members and supporters.

Thank you for your consideration. We’ll give you time to mullet over, but please let minnow.

Sincerely,

Tracy Reiman

Executive Vice President
PETA