PETA creates water-bound awareness campaign about going vegan

To mark the occasion of Earth Day (April 22), leading animal rights organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, teamed up with Zen Digital Media to put up billboards in the sea.

These billboards depict a turtle ensnared in plastic netting, as a reminder that killing fish also costs turtles their lives. Up to one million tonnes of fishing gear – which can take 600 years to degrade – enters the oceans every year, killing over 250,000 turtles, who get caught in it.

The billboards can be seen at Juhu Beach and on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai. Billboards depicting the same artwork have been erected by PETA India in other coastal places like Chennai, Goa, Kochi and Kolkata.

Called bycatch by the fishing industry, non-target animals killed by fishing gear also include 720,000 seabirds, 300,000 whales and dolphins, 345,000 seals and sea lions, and 100 million sharks and rays. PETA India notes that fishing is considered to be the biggest threat to marine wildlife.

“Eating one sensitive, intelligent fish can spell suffering for many more animals, some of whom are endangered,” said PETA India senior campaigns coordinator Radhika Suryavanshi. “PETA India urges everyone to keep aquatic animals in mind this Earth Day – and every day – by choosing compassionate vegan foods.”