Nearly Naked 'Mermaid' Sticks Up for Fish During Lent

PETA Beauty Will Ask New Haven Shoppers to Leave 'the Other Meat'—Fish—Off Their Plates and Go Vegan

For Immediate Release:
March 28, 2011

Contact:
Robbyn Brooks 202-483-7382

New Haven, Conn. -- Wearing little more than "fins," a sexy PETA member will dress as a topless mermaid on Tuesday to encourage New Haven residents to make one more type of flesh off-limits on Fridays during Lent (or any other time): fish. PETA's mermaid will appear outside a popular fish market and hold signs that read, "Fish Are Friends, Not Food" and "Fishing Hurts."

When:   Tuesday, March 29, 12 noon

Where:  Outside the State Fish Farm Market, 892 State St. (near the intersection of State and Humphrey streets), New Haven

"People who are already leaving meat off their plates for religious reasons know that it's really no big sacrifice, so we're asking them to cut fish some slack too," says PETA campaigner Lauren Stroyeck. "Fish might not be cute and cuddly, but when it comes to feeling pain and having a will to live, they're just like all other animals."

Scientific studies show that fish are intelligent, sensitive animals who experience pain and fear when they are hooked or netted and pulled from the water. A recent issue of the journal Fish and Fisheries cited more than 500 research papers on fish intelligence proving that fish are smart, can use tools, and have impressive long-term memories and sophisticated social structures.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or FishingHurts.com.