Seafood Business December 2004 Editor's Note
PETA's Latest Ploy
				
                              
          
        

          

            

              

                


                                    

                    Alaska Salmon Fishermen                     
              

Wed, 1st December 2004

            By
            Fiona Robinson            

            

            
            They're baaack! People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, announced that it is launching the Fish Empathy Project to get consumers to stop eating seafood.            




As part of this campaign, PETA is trying to convince people that the standard practices in commercial fishing are cruel, and that fish should be stunned before being processed. The group also would have consumers believe that fish are just as smart as dogs or cats. That one makes me laugh. I know my dog can catch a Frisbee, push a ball with her nose and jump up onto the kitchen counter to steal a pound of fudge. I’ve never seen a flounder do this. 



But PETA’s tactics are no laughing matter for seafood professionals. In this latest campaign, the group plans to picket seafood restaurants. If the results of SeaFood Business’ biennial foodservice survey are any indication, the pickets will most likely focus on the West Coast. Slightly more than 40 percent of survey respondents in that region say they have removed a seafood item from their menu because of sustainability or food-safety concerns. It should be no surprise to seafood buyers that Chilean sea bass, swordfish and farmed salmon are the species restaurateurs yanked most often. 



It’s clear to me that consumers who question the ethics of eating seafood won’t be making their decision on the doorsteps of a restaurant. But the picketing will most certainly garner media attention. And restaurants won’t relish seeing their company logo on the nightly news. 



Environmental concerns continue to impact menu planning. Buyers polled in our foodservice surveys have cited eco-concerns as a challenge for more than a decade. These days, operators have to know everything about the seafood they’re buying, not just whether it’s wild or farmed. But one criteria that buyers can safely ignore is whether the fish they are purchasing is smarter than the family pet. 



And consumers who are so misguided as to buy that fallacy don’t deserve to eat seafood. Let them have their tofu turkeys and hot dogs (isn’t it ironic that vegans’ diet choices are modeled after meat products?). 



Meanwhile, if this latest campaign aggravates you, just remember this bumper-sticker acronym that has become popular among those weary of PETA’s tactics: People Eat Tasty Animals.