PETA to Host a Local … Fishing Event?

For Immediate Release:
March 19, 2021

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

Tomorrow, PETA supporters will gather at Lake Ronkonkoma for a new “trash fishing” initiative, inspired by the father-and-son duo who decided to tackle trash—from tires to tin cans—in Michigan’s Detroit River. PETA along with the Lake Ronkonkoma Improvement Group and Long Island Orchestrating for Nature (LION) will supply attendees with eco-friendly gloves, compostable trash bags, and vegan snacks like Swedish Fish candy.

When:    Saturday, March 20, 10:15 a.m.

Where:    Lt. Michael P. Murphy Memorial Park at Lake Ronkonkoma, near the intersection of Lake Shore Road and East Drive, Ronkonkoma

“PETA’s ‘trash fishing’ initiative is a fun way to enjoy nature, reduce pollution, and protect marine life in all its fascinating forms,” says PETA Director of Campaigns Danielle Katz. “No one would encourage children to hook dogs or cats through the mouth, and fishing is no different.”

PETA notes that traditional fishing is a cruel practice of hooking gentle animals through their sensitive mouths, watching them slowly suffocate, and sometimes even gutting them while they’re still alive. Even though they are now known to feel pain as acutely as mammals do, more fish are killed for food each year than all other animals combined. Fishing also harms “non-target” species: PETA staffers have rescued geese ensnared in fishing line at Lake Ronkonkoma and once spotted a gull there with a fishing hook embedded in his beak.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.