We celebrated a successful Respect For Fish Day on August 1 raising awareness of the harms of fish farming — and we had some help from some incredible ocean-loving mermaids!  

The winners of our #MermaidsAgainstFishFarming photo contest got creative to showcase their love of the ocean and help spread the message about how to protect fish and marine environments from fish farming with some amazing images.

Mermaid Evi took first place with a stunning photo that featured her swimming among a school of fish, highlighting the connection between humans (and in this case mermaids) and fish.

Second place went to Mermaid Fantasea whose photo submission featured a waterfall backdrop and the caption “Mermaids love clean water and healthy fish! So don’t farm fish!”

Third place was awarded to the most adorable contestant, Merdog Tia! She donned a cute mermaid tail and posed for our campaign. A special thanks to all of our contest participants!

We also celebrated on Respect For Fish Day by holding a Taco Tuesday food giveaway in Santa Monica, California. Volunteers handed out 300 vegan fishless tacos to members of the public who stopped by to try our tasty tacos and ask questions about fish. 

Even a few merfolk joined us to share why humans should care about the wellbeing of fish and they helped us educate passers-by about the harms fish farming causes to fish, humans, the ocean, and other marine life.

Fish in farms are raised in crowded pens and exposed to antibiotics, pesticides, and other harmful contaminants that flow out into the ocean, creating algal blooms and ocean dead zones. Fish farm nets pose the additional threat of entangling other wild animals.

More and more research has surfaced showing that fish not only experience negative emotions like suffering, but also positive ones like joy. Our future Respect For Fish work will continue to highlight how fish are sentient and deserve compassionate treatment and protection from cruelty and neglect. 

To find out more about how you can get involved and help protect fish every day, visit our Respect for Fish campaign.