For Immediate Release: 
October 6, 2009

Contact:
Ashley Byrne 757-622-7382

Long Beach, Calif. -- Today, PETA sent a letter to Dr. Jerry Schubel, president and CEO of Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, urging him to cancel the aquarium's "Seafood for the Future" program, which encourages people to eat specific kinds of fish in order to qualify for a free ticket to the aquarium. In the letter, PETA points out that the aquarium's partnership with local "seafood" restaurants contradicts its mission to foster respect for the ocean's inhabitants and that the best way for visitors to safeguard the ocean's sea life is to adopt a vegetarian diet.

"Encouraging aquarium visitors to eat fish is like serving poodle burgers at a dog show," says PETA Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Fish are frequently tainted with a toxic brew of bacteria, contaminants, and heavy metals, and no one--particularly a facility that is supposed to promote respect for sea life--should recommend eating them."

Scientists know that fish experience fear, communicate, and develop relationships with one another. When they are dragged from the ocean's depths, fish undergo excruciating decompression, which often causes their internal organs to rupture. Those who survive slowly suffocate, are crushed to death, or are cut open and gutted while they are still conscious. Fish are frequently contaminated with mercury, dioxin, PCBs, and other environmental toxins, which can have negative health consequences for those who eat fish.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or visit PETA's Blog.

PETA's letter to Aquarium of the Pacific CEO Dr. Jerry Schubel follows.

October 6, 2009

Dr. Jerry Schubel
President and CEO

Dear Dr. Schubel,

I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 2 million members and supporters, including tens of thousands across southern California. We ask that you cancel your "Seafood for the Future" program. It is irresponsible in this day and age for an aquarium--whose stated mission is to "instill a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean, its inhabitants, and ecosystems"--to devise a program that encourages people to eat fish. Visitors should be encouraged to stop harming and killing sea and river life and to go vegetarian for the sake of the oceans and rivers, to stop cruelty to animals, and to protect themselves from the ingestion of heavy metals, like mercury.

Not only is fishing harmful to the environment and human health, it also causes immense suffering to fish. You must surely know that neurobiologists have demonstrated that fish have complex nervous systems that comprehend and respond to pain. Fish 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 they are dragged from the ocean's depths, fish undergo excruciating decompression, often causing their internal organs to rupture. Once on a ship's deck, many fish slowly suffocate, are crushed to death, or are cut open and gutted while they are still conscious.

On many fish farms, conditions are so disgustingly filthy that up to 40 percent of the fish don't survive long enough for farmers to kill and package them. Farmed fish spend their entire lives on top of each other in cramped enclosures, and the severe crowding causes fish to rub against one another constantly, often to the point of developing open, infected sores. Flesh-eating sea lice can be so rampant on the farms that many fish have parts of their bodies eaten down to the bone.

Encouraging aquarium visitors to eat fish is like serving poodle burgers at a dog show. Please urge visitors to go vegetarian to protect aquatic animals, visitors' health, and the oceans. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President