People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has been trying to gain momentum lately with its anti-fishing campaign. Claiming that fish feel pain and suffer mental anguish when hooked, PETA even opposes so-called “catch and release” fishing. Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated has had enough. “I wailed for the whales,” says Reilly. “I fumed over fur. I emotionally clubbed myself over the baby seals. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to weep over a walleye.” Taking PETA’s argument to its illogical conclusion, Reilly muses: “Why does PETA stop at fish? Where does PETA stand on the plight of the worm? And plankton? And the 1,000,000 micro-organisms that are crushed by your boots every time you go on a nature hike?… Before I agree to this whole fish-human truce, somebody had better have a long face-to-face with the sharks about it. I say we send a bunch of PETA members down right away.”
