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PETA's Jay Kelly speaks up for the fish in PETA's new radio ad. "Fishing is just as cruel as beating a puppy," says Kelly. "While fish may not be cute and cuddly like puppies, they certainly suffer as much. You like puppies, don't you?"
As a child, Jay fished in Lake Martin, Alabama, but today, you'd never see him out there waving his rod around—he's too busy picking up fishing litter that anglers have carelessly left behind.  Says Kelly, "When walking around lakes that are heavily fished, you'll often see lots of fishing trash." Fishing trash poses a great danger, not just to fish, but also to other wildlife. Countless water birds and mammals suffer, and many die, from injuries caused by discarded or lost fishing hooks, monofilament line, lead weights, and floats. Animals who become entangled in fishing line can be trapped underwater and drown or, unable to feed, die slowly of starvation. In fact, wildlife rehabilitators often say that lost or discarded fishing gear is the greatest threat to aquatic wildlife
The pro-fish radio commercial is the first of its kind. In 1999, Linda McCartney starred in PETA's first nationwide anti-fishing television commercial declaring September 25 as National Fish Amnesty Day.
PETA calls on anglers to "give fish a break" and invites them to start by snapping their fishing poles in half!
Be a friend to the fish: Use your rod for kindling and take a croquet mallet to your reel. You'll enjoy the sound and feeling of destruction without hurting any living being, and that's about all that stuff is good for anyway!
 Gear designed to impale small animals and yank them out of their environment has no place in a civilized society. Breaking up hard to do? Then donate those unwanted fishing poles to PETA! We'll use them in demonstrations and displays that ask people to get hooked on compassion. And, hey, fishing is just hunting in the water, not a harmless pastime like lawn bowling.
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