PETA Calls On Seafood Plant to Switch to Faux Seafood in the Wake of Gulf Oil Spill

The Tide Is Rising for Faux Fish and Mock Meats, Says Group

For Immediate Release:
May 18, 2010

Contact:
Pulin Modi  757-622-7382

Mobile, Ala. -- On the heels of the government's announcement that fishing is banned in 19 percent of the Gulf, PETA sent a letter to Lyle Johnson, production manager of Coden, Ala.-based Johnson Sea Products, urging him to convert the family-owned seafood-processing plant into a faux-seafood operation. PETA's request comes in the wake of a ban on fishing because of the massive oil spill that is threatening the Gulf Coast. In the letter, PETA points out that such disasters can be devastating to businesses and that crabs, fish, and other sea animals feel pain when they are cruelly pulled from the sea. PETA also explains that by switching its production to faux seafood, Johnson Sea Products would help meet the fast-growing demand for healthy and humane mock meats. As an enticement, PETA has offered to provide a gourmet meal of faux seafood--including delicious vegan scallops and mock lobster--for all the workers at the plant.

"The oil spill might bring economic losses for the fishing industry, but animals who are pulled from their homes in the sea are sentenced to a painful death every time a trawler leaves the dock," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "By switching to faux-seafood production, Johnson Sea Products and sea animals could have a much brighter future."

For more information, please visit PETA.org

PETA's letter to Lyle Johnson, production manager of Johnson Sea Products, follows.

May 18, 2010

Lyle Johnson
Production Manager
Johnson Sea Products

Dear Mr. Johnson:

I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 2 million members and supporters with a suggestion that would keep Johnson Sea Products' seafood-processing plant operating and keep employees working despite fishing bans necessitated by disasters like the current oil spill. Will you convert to a plant that produces delicious faux-seafood products?

According to Robert Elwood, the lead author of two 2009 studies on crustaceans' ability to feel pain, crabs have "a suitable central nervous system and receptors." Crabs also learn to avoid painful stimuli, release certain hormones when they experience pain or stress, and respond to pain-relief medication--leaving scientists with no doubt that it is agonizing and terrifying for crabs and lobsters to be cut open or boiled while still alive. Science has also shown that fish undoubtedly feel pain when they are forced to endure painful decompression as they are dragged from the ocean's depths and suffocate on the decks of boats.

Switching to cruelty-free faux-seafood processing also makes great business sense. As you know, seafood processing can be disrupted because of factors such as oil spills. Meanwhile, demand for faux-meat products has continued to grow by as much as 48 percent per year. A 2009 survey conducted by Cultivate Research found that 26 percent of Americans have reduced their meat consumption, while a 2009 issue of Nation's Restaurant News suggested adding meat-free options to the menu as one if its top strategies for improving business.

As a first step to converting your plant, we would like to cater a free faux-seafood meal for you and your employees, featuring mouthwatering morsels such as breaded faux-fish sticks and fried mock scallops (both made of healthy plant protein and spices, minus the toxins found in real fish and crustaceans).

Switching to faux seafood would spare animals' lives and would mean healthier oceans, healthier consumers, and a healthier bottom line. I look forward to hearing from you so that we can make arrangements to serve a delicious meal at your plant.

Sincerely,
Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President