PETA targets Aquarium of the Pacific over seafood promotion

News item: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sharply criticizes the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach for a promotion designed to help consumers make responsible choices when dining at area seafood restaurants.

A letter sent by PETA vice president Tracy Reimanto to aquarium president and CEO Jerry Schubel contained this quote: "Encouraging aquarium visitors to eat fish is like serving poodle burgers at a dog show."

Reaction: Poodle burgers sound disgusting. Seared albacore with fennel and arugula sounds wonderful. Perhaps PETA would be better served by focusing on real issues and go after, say, restaurants that serve shark-fin soup, which might thereby help to stop the brutal practice of finning --  the slicing of fins from live sharks at sea.

People are going to eat fish, and PETA cannot change that. So the Aquarium of the Pacific is to be commended, not criticized, for its "Seafood for the Future" program. It has partnered with more than a dozen restaurants so far. They've stamped their menus with logos next to seafood items that are harvested in a sustainable manner, or farmed in a way that does not harm the environment. Patrons who chose those items are rewarded with free passes to the aquarium.

Said Schubel to the Long Beach Press-Telegram: "The entire program is very consistent with our mission because we are committed to conserving wild stocks of fish. And one of the best ways to do that -- since seafood is so popular -- is to influence the choices that people make so that they will choose seafood wisely."

That mission is "to instill a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean, its inhabitants and ecosystems," and the photo atop this item is just one bit of evidence that the facility is fulfilling its mission.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Volunteer diver Dirk Burcham waves to Sofia Ferguson, 2, at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

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Comments

[Vicky]

Caroline, you are incredibly ignorant! People never stopped wearing fur! It's also different because wearing fur is fashion, and that is cruelty. Eating fish is the circle of life. It's completely normal, there is nothing wrong with eating animals, the real problem is how we kill and treat these animals. Fishing in a sustainable manner is not wrong! And this is what the aquarium is trying to do! People aren't going to stop eating animals! Food is life, but fur is fashion! There is a MAJOR difference, and that is why it is not the same thing!

[archangel]

Considering the world economic setting, homelessness, overpopulation, disasters, dwindling resources impending Armageddon and whatever else, I suggest that we take a studied look at the 'final solution' posed in that certain 1970's sci-fi movie starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson.
Therefore, to encourage the "right thing to do" scenario, I urge that all you PETAtic hypocrites lead the way and volunteer to be baked into "Soylent Green" crackers.
Just think about the tons of plant material you'll save from the suffering, death, torment and agony of your selfishly cruel vegan appetites. Not to mention saving us from your insane, insufferable logic.

[I Love Sushi]

I like mine raw...

[live in LA]

When PETA stops eating vegetables, I will stop eating fish. You know, plants are alive and have feelings too. When you rip them out of the ground and chop them up and put your salad dressing, you can hear the tiny screaming. How would you feel if someone pulled you out of your bed and chopped you?

[sandra m]

PETA is trying to raise everyone's consciousness about our consumer choices. And, if we have the choice not to exploit and kill animals, we should make the kinder choice. Choosing to not eat fish is also a healthier choice. Type 'mercury & PCB' into your search engine and learn about these two highly toxic materials regularly found in fish these days. Then there are the pharmaceuticals that end up in the oceans and in our bodies when we eat fish from those oceans. Fish farms are no better. If aquariums have any value, instead of imprisoning fish in one part of the building and serving them up on a plate in another part, they should be showing the public why the oceans are endangered by current fishing practices.

[Glenn]

It's just sad to see children being taught that fish belong in tanks, treated as objects for our amusement. How does that teach "wonder" or "respect"? We can teach respect of animal life by showing those animals in their natural habitat, not penned up or confined.

I'm fully with Peta on this one. I hope no one "respects" me so much they decide to eat me.

[Let's use our brains people]

It's interesting that this has become a forum for "no one is going to tell me what to do" comments. Carry on, status quo, part of the problem and not open to the solutions offered by either side (PETA or the Aquarium). I'm not sure that's the best response...although it's a typical one. And one of the reasons we're in this mess.

[Verballistic]

A recent news item tells us all we need to know about the extremist fringe group PETA: When 51 abused dogs were rescued from Michael Vick's property a few years back, PETA unequivocally supported euthanizing all 51 of these dogs. Fortunately, more rational minds prevailed and these calls for euthanasia were ignored, with no less than 47 of the 51 dogs being gradually nursed back to full health. The publicity addicts at PETA are far more concerned about their own political agenda than the actual animals they claim to speak for...

[TC]

Unlike the Monterrey Bay Aquarium's "Seafood Watch" program, the Aquarium of the Pacific is actually taking things one step further by rewarding people who order the "sustainable seafood" dishes in restaurants with free tickets. Does that mean they are encouraging people to order seafood who might not normally do so?

We have reached a point in which we need to encourage everyone to be making more sustainable living choices, from what we buy, to what we eat, to how we get our energy. PETA should not stand in the way on educating the public on more sustainable food choices, but Aquarium of the Pacific's program also needs to acknowledge that not eating fish or eating less fish in general is really the most sustainable choice. (That is assuming the consumer decides to forgo the U.S. farmed Tilapia and instead order a hamburger shipped over from cows grazed in a clear-cut portion of the Amazon rainforest....)

[tony]

Can we just feed PETA folks to the sharks? I heard there's a few hungry ones in Santa Monica Bay. I'm just sick and tired of their BS. Pretty soon, they'll be telling me that I can't eat carrots because I'm stealing a food source for wild rabbits. Give me a break.

[Barada]

Poodle burgers? I'll have mine with cheese!

[Ron]

Really!!!! Sorry... lot's of people still wear fur.

[Scott E]

www.petakillsanimals.com will shed a lot of light on just how hypocritical PETA and all of their PETApumpers really are. It is 100% factual and shatters their animal saving image.

www.petakillsanimals.com

Here's just a little snippet from the site; "PETA’s “Animal Record” report for 2008, filed with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, shows that the animal rights group killed 95 percent of the dogs and cats in its care last year. During all of 2008, PETA found adoptive homes for just seven pets."

I will continue to legally fish many species of fish and even sharks from my sportfisher, I will continue to hunt game with a rifle or shotgun, I will continue to eat meat, I will continue to wear leather and to purchase my vehicles with leather interiors, I support animal research for my medical benefit. I will also do my part to get the truth out about PETA and their members, and hopefully change a few minds of the PETA pumpers who feel all warm and fuzzy, thinking they are saving the planet, one animal at a time.

[CN]

My favorite part about articles related to PETA are all the ridiculous comments anti-PETA people leave. For example,

"I'll stop eating animals when animals stop eating animals."

"I thought PETA was an acronym for "People Eating Tasty Animals" ?!? "

"I don't see PETA arguing with a bear for eating wild salmon (which by the way, are eaten alive)..."

It's nice to see how stupid the opposition really is.

[ovphoto]

Typo People Eating Tasty Animals PETA

[SChhin]

PETA must be bored.. pick a better fight. No sense on PETA part, and absolutely NO, you cannot stop people from eating animals-deal with it (wisely).

[Pat Kraus]

I say invite a few of those non-steroidal . 100% organic. vegan P.E.T.A. members over for a little BBQ. Only do it sustainably!!!

[Sakeneko]

Actually, Caroline, they didn't change it, not in most of the country. I see fur (to say nothing of leather) on many people, just not many in the Los Angeles area. I suspect that might have more to do with the climate than with PETA. I've also seen a t-shirt advertising the Great Pike Place Seakitten toss, in honor of PETA's attempt to rename fish "sea kitten", and I live nowhere near Seattle. ;)

PETA frankly comes across to me as a bunch of shrill, arrogant moralists who are determined that you *will* join their church. I grew up with a few too many of those as a child in the U.S. south, and was one for a few years. Now I don't do that, and I avoid people who do.

[Victor]

PETA is so crazy is just a bunch of burgoise liberal white people that have nothing better to do than make up stupid issues. PETA there are human beings torture and abuse around the world how about getting on that bandwagon?? I am a liberal and I think people like PETA and all those crazy rich white people have nothing to do with real liberals they are just nutcases.

[Mario Mancer]

Totally agree with the Acuarium of the Pacific and several comments here. PETA is going plain stupid with these kind of tactics, when there are real problems like the fishing of sharks and dolphins (And I support their message, but with common sense). The whole analogy used by PETA, is like saying to all the animal kingdom to stop hunting and become vegetarian. But oh, wait a minute, plants and vegetals are also living beings, so better try to stop eating vegetables as well... come on, people.

Sometimes even a good cause can make a fundamentalist a real moron. And PETA is touching that fanatical line.

[Robert M]

The problem with PETA is the problem with any extremist group: they lack logic or common sense. By "targeting" organizations like the Aquarium of the Pacific or the practice of encouraging better eating habits, PETA is undermining their own goals, and turning away potential supporters. In fact, they make people who were previously on the fence take contrary positions just because they do not want to align themselves with such nonsense.

[Jonn Fromson]

PETA has become, in the past years, a caricature of what they once were.

While I believe that their intentions are good, their actions have become so ludicrous that they have done themselves a huge disservice by making both PETA and their message easier to ignore.

Ever since they launched a campaign to re-name fish "sea-kittens," (the mis-guided logic behind which was, who would want to eat a kitten,) their efforts are seemingly more laughable and less credible with every news item I read about PETA. Now, whenever I see an article on PETA, my first reaction is "This should be good for a laugh."

[hummingbird]

PETA = People Eating Tasty Animals

[David]

Why do poodle burgers sound disgusting? They may be, but you really don't know until you've tried one.

[Grateful]

As usual PETA is missing the point here...

It's not the Aquariums mission to prevent people from eating seafood. their mission is to is "to instill a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean, its inhabitants, and ecosystems." As an educational facility- the AoP is not supposed to dictate peoples actions, but provide people with the facts they need to make choices of their own.
This program is very commendable. The AoP is walking their talk by actively engaging people in helping to conserve ocean species. And by rewarding them for making good choices.
This is no different than Monterey Bay Aquariums 'Seafood Watch' program.
But PETA, being the media hogs that they are- have to go jump all over the AoP just to get some more publicity.