In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Screw PETA posted by stephen clark on June 28, 2005 at 19:48:13:

You know, I consider myself as eco-friendly as most sane people and I've got to say, unless you yourself do not eat flesh of any kind you can't really support PETA's position on this issue. There will always be debates over the issue of whether aquariums and zoos do enough to raise public consciousness about the animals and environment in general to justify the captivation and possibly diminished quality of life for the specific creatures involved. I've seen many institutions where I could NOT see any justification for the sacrifices being made by the animals they contain, but this sure can't be said about the Aquarium of the Pacific. In the interest of full disclosure, I volunteer my time as a diver at the Aquarium, as many on this BBS do, and I've seen first-hand how much of an impact the place has on people who might not otherwise have any appreciation for the oceans we enjoy. Especially the kids -- and they're the ones who are going to be responsible for the future of the fish after we're gone. If the only appreciation some of them develop is that certain species are more tasty than others, that's fine -- as long as they also learn the rest of our message which shows them these tasty fish they enjoy catching will not be around long without proper husbandry of our marine resources. If their only motivations for learning to protect our oceans are selfish ones, I don't care. Mine are too, I enjoy diving in healthy marine environments. In all the time I've been at AoP, I've never been told to try and discourage anyone from eating fish, that is not our message. We're just trying to raise public awareness -- and doing a good job of it in my opinion. To anyone who might fret about the lives of the specific fish in our exhibits: instead of worrying about it, come down and volunteer some of your time to help us ensure them the best quality of life possible. Just my opinion.

SLANG