I'm really not sure what a fish empathy center would entail, but suspect a lighthouse in Grand Haven is not the best place for it.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has applied through a federal program to take over the structures and lighted catwalk that are frequently photographed for dramatic sunsets, thick winter ice and crashing waves.
The area gets nearly 2 million annual visitors, including anglers casting lines into the Grand River channel and heading out in boats for Great Lakes salmon.
"We want to renovate the Grand Haven lights as a memorial to the billions of fish killed annually by sport fishermen, as well as for their flesh (commercial fishing industry)," said Lindsey Rajt, manager of PETA's campaigns department. "We also want to make it a fun and educational place."
Note to PETA: Fish are tasty, good for you and a decent source of protein.
Tentative PETA plans call for an education center, where visitors would learn about fish. There also would be a cafe, offering vegetarian fare including "faux fish."
Signs would likely announce the lighthouse as home of PETA's Fish Empathy Center.
I assume this is just a ridiculous publicity stunt. We already have numerous places where people can learn about fish - acquariums or millions of dinner plates nationwide. After all what does one do in a Fish Empathy Center - do you get in the water and chant "glub, glub, glub"? These kinds of stunts further properly marginalize PETA as a voice of nothing more than lunacy and indeed self-parody.
Indeed, the far more rational locals are rightly unimpressed by this stunt:
Locals are dumbfounded by the proposal.
"It doesn't make any sense to me at all," Capt. Dan Tebo said Tuesday, a mile offshore in his Grand Haven-based fishing charter boat the D'Ann Marie. "We fish here for the fish. That's what God gave them to us for."
Darn straight, and fish are even tastier when dipped in batter or grilled to taste.
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