Lobsters 'value their own lives': PETA campaigns in N.S. against eating seafood

International animal-rights group PETA has launched a new campaign against the consumption of marine animals in the Halifax area. 

On Tuesday, the organization announced it had placed three ads in bus shelters in Halifax and Dartmouth showing a photo of a lobster and featuring the words, "I'm ME, Not MEAT. See the Individual. Go Vegan." PETA said it plans to run the ads until the first week of January.

Lobster season opened Dec. 1 in Nova Scotia's fishing areas 33 and 34, which runs down the province's South Shore all the way around the peninsula to Digby. It comprises Canada's largest commercial lobster fishery — last year, it was valued at $502 million, making up about 57 per cent of total Canadian lobster landings, according to the federal government.

Many lobsters caught during the season end up on plates across Canada during the holiday season or are exported as far away as China. 

"The holiday season is a time for people to have some reflections and maybe be a little more generous and compassionate in the way that they're acting," said PETA spokesperson Amber Canavan.

Canavan said the organization is encouraging people to consume vegan seafood, which is made from plant-based materials.

"PETA's bus shelter ads remind everyone that lobsters are not inanimate objects, they're living, feeling individuals who don't want to die, yet every year, millions of lobsters are ripped from their ocean homes, only for people to tear them apart limb from limb, cut them in half or boil them alive, all while they're still conscious and able to feel pain," said Canavan.

In a news release, PETA executive vice-president Tracy Reiman likened lobsters to humans, saying they "feel pain and fear, have unique personalities, and value their own lives."

PETA also described lobsters as "intelligent individuals who explore their surroundings, can remember individual lobsters, and use complex signals to establish social relationships. If left alone, they can live to be more than 100 years old."

The group points out that Switzerland banned boiling lobsters alive earlier this year. They now have to be killed or knocked out before cooking.

'We can't stop people from eating what they like'

"We've reviewed the processes and the way we look after lobster through the value chain and we feel very comfortable about it in terms of how we husband the lobster through the value chain," said Geoff Irvine, the executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada.

Irvine noted the ad's focus on adopting a vegan diet.

"We would encourage people to eat whatever they like," he said. "We encourage them to eat lobster, seafood in general, but we can't stop people from eating what they like."

PETA's crusade against consuming marine animals in Canada isn't a new thing.

In late August, PETA targeted a shellfish recycling plant in Richibucto, N.B., after CBC News reported that residents were frustrated by the odour being emitted from Omera Shells Inc., which grinds, heats and processes old lobster and crab shells and shrimp skins, turning the remains into a powder. The powder is later exported to Asia, where it's used in the bio-medical industry and as a fertilizer.

At the time, PETA said it planned to fly an aerial banner or set up a billboard with the same message now found on the bus shelters in the Halifax area.

Canavan said the company didn't end up doing that because it couldn't find a suitable location to run the ads.

The organization also ran some ads in Toronto subway stations earlier this year.