Los Angeles Times, Letter to the Editor, November 17, 2023
Earth is home to more than 30,000 known species of fish, which is more than all the other species of vertebrate animals combined. Fish are amazingly diverse and truly fascinating. Did you know, for example, that fish are fast learners with long-term memories and a keen sense of time? They recognize other individuals, can keep track of complex social relationships, and work cooperatively with other species. Fish are inquisitive, perceptive, and personable.
Sadly, fish are the most misrepresented and misperceived animals. For example, the absurd but common notion that fish have “a three-second memory” should be blown out of the water by the fact that migrating fishes, such as salmon, remember their way home years later and from thousands of miles away. Others, including goldfish, can learn and remember skills. One is even noted for it in the Guinness Book of World Records!
Also contrary to popular myth, fish can suffer fear and pain, as has been scientifically shown. Far more fish are exploited than any other category of animals, and they are subjected to the worst abuses. Yet, fish have the least legal protection and receive the least concern for their well-being, even from the animal protection community.
Globally, an estimated one to three trillion wild-caught fishes and 37-120 billion farmed fishes are killed commercially for food each year. Hundreds of millions more are killed for “sport” each year in the U.S. alone. Fishes are also increasingly replacing other animals for scientific experimentation. Approximately one-quarter of all the animals used for research and education in North America are fish. Additionally, some 1.5 billion are used for aquariums.
Fish Feel is the first organization devoted to promoting the recognition of fish as sentient beings deserving of respect and compassion. Fish Feel primarily serves to help educate the public as to why these animals are deserving of our admiration and appreciation, the immense problems caused by the exploitation of them, and how we can help them.
The Wondrous World of Aquatic Animals
Music: ‘Nuturing the Spark’ by Bobby Cole; Jamendo Licensing.
Fish Feel has created “An Underwater Friend,” a book to help children (and adults!) realize that fishing is cruel, and that we should have compassion and respect for fishes and for all animals.
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Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2023
Conway Daily Sun, June 26, 2023
Nueva Pescanova intends to construct the world’s first factory farm for octopuses in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, the Spanish territory off the coast of Morocco. This webpage includes multiple petitions and is a compilation of information from individuals and organizations that are against bringing a ...
The Animal Doctor, Dr. Michael W. Fox, December 25, 2022
Fish Feel letter in the Altoona Mirror condemning the wholesale killing of the inhabitants of Lakemont Park. March 7, 2022
The Animal Doctor, Dr. Michael W. Fox, January 30, 2022
The National Provisioner, Emily Solis, October 25, 2021.
Looking to the future, an increasing focus of activist organizations is aquaculture or farm-raised fish. The release of the Netflix documentary “Seaspiracy” brought seafood and the way it’s raised into the spotlight over the past year, and activists have run with it. Mary ...
The Fence Post, Animal Agriculture Alliance, August 31, 2021.
In warning meat industry players about animal activists, this article quotes Fish Feel's Mary Finelli.
Fish Feel letter to the Editor, June 15, 2021
"Mary Finelli [of] Fish Feel ... said the rays were being 'scapegoated” ... also adding the rays are 'very vulnerable to overfishing.'” Southern Maryland News/The Enterprise, June 9, 2021
Letter to the Editor - February 19, 2020 - "... it is woefully apparent that effective humane education and sensitivity training is sorely needed there."
“It’s appalling that anyone would swallow a live animal, let alone the principal of an elementary school in front of the students,” Finelli said. “Science has shown that fish suffer fear and pain. They are sentient beings who deserve respect and compassion, not gratuitous cruelty.”NO CHARGES WILL COME IN LIVE ...
The Animal Doctor, Dr. Michael W. Fox, June 14, 2020
"ANIMALS 24-7 also forwarded the Johnson video and his personal comment to Mary Finelli, founder of the fish advocacy organization Fish Feel, and forwarded the Cabela’s response as soon as it arrived. Finelli promptly shared all of it with Fish Feel followers...Comments by vegetarians, vegans, and opponents of all fishing ...
"Mary Finelli, the president of Fish Feel, states that 'Octopuses tend to be highly intelligent, solitary animals who like to conceal themselves. Forcing them to live together, in what are bound to be otherwise barren conditions, is egregiously inhumane. They are exotic animals and relatively little is known about disease ...
Our Save the Rays Coalition letter to the Editor. The Enterprise, Letter to the Editor, me, March 28, 2019
Fish Feel letter to the Editor. Cecil Whig, March 22, 2019
The Animal Doctor, Dr. Michael W. Fox, March 11, 2019
“Cownose rays are native to the bay and an integral part of the ecosystem,” said coalition chair Mary Finelli during a hearing on the legislation. “Please give the state the time it needs to put in place an effective management plan while giving the rays the protection they need and ...
Fish Feel is mentioned as one of the organizations that are working to "bridge the gap" between the recognition of fishes as sentient beings deserving of respect and society's failure to act on it.
Fish Feel is among the topics discussed in this podcast, with host Christian Chappell expresses appreciation and praise for the organization.
Fish Feel letter to the Editor. Toledo Blade, March 21, 2018
The fish-themed January/February 2018 issue of The Animals’ Voice magazine includes articles by Fish Feel directors Cam MacQueen and Mary Finelli.
GREAT NEWS! The bill to protect cownose rays has been signed into law! It was unanimously passed by the Maryland Senate, and Governor Hogan signed it on April 30th, 2019. The new law extends the moratorium on killing contests that target the rays until the state prepares a management plan ...
Fish Feel's Mary Finelli is among the activists profiled in this photo essay by Unbound Project.
Youth fishing campaigns are desensitizing children to animal suffering and promoting animal abuse. They are a gateway to lifelong, cruel animal exploitation. We are learning so much about fish! Fish have family, friends and feelings. Scientists have shown that fish feel fear and pain. It hurts when they are hooked ...
The decision to have a companion animal is a serious responsibility, which requires planning and a commitment to their long-term care. It should not be based on how well you can toss a ping pong ball into a bowl. Goldfish are living, feeling creatures, just like any other animal. Goldfish ...
This petition calls on major grocery chains including Sobeys Inc and those within its management (Thrifty Foods and Price Chopper) to end the use of live lobster tanks in stores across Canada.
Thousands of short-beaked common dolphins are being killed by fishing vessels targeting pelagic fish species in EU waters. This barbaric practice is referred to as 'bycatch' by the fishing industry. We are calling on Karmenu Vella, the EU Commissioner for Environment Maritime Affairs & Fisheries, to take urgent action to ...
Goliath grouper were once abundant from Florida to Brazil, but overfishing and habitat loss decimated their numbers. Since 1990 harvest and possession of the fish have been prohibited in U.S. federal waters and state waters off Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. This ban has allowed goliath grouper to recover, ...
President Trump is determined to give oil companies unrestricted access to oil and gas under America's oceans, and his plans to dramatically expand offshore drilling off the California coast threatens marine wildlife and coastal communities with oil spills, toxic pollution and more fossil fuel infrastructure.
Your beach may be more polluted than you think. Each hour we dump one ton of invisible pollution into the ocean; if it were a visible, tangible substance like oil, we would demand that the spill be halted. Even though you can't see it, this pollution threatens our sea life ...
"People in charge of civic projects have a responsibility to do the least harm. They shouldn’t have such apathetic, defeatist attitudes." Arizona Daily Star, November 15, 2017
Prawn farms are performing a cruel procedure on live prawns to make them breed faster. Female prawns have their eye sliced open and squeezed out, or cut off with a heated blade — usually without any pain relief. This practice, called 'eyestalk ablation' happens in almost all prawn hatcheries around the world ...
"[B]efore Fish Feel emerged, fish had no human voice representing any interest in their existence apart from an interest in consuming them, or in consuming whatever fish themselves might be eating."
Published by US News & World Report, CBS, and others. US News & World Report, Capital News Service, Cara Newcomer, March 17, 2017. Fish Feel's Mary "Finelli said legislation creating a moratorium is a good first step, but Maryland still needs to fully ban the contests ... 'We look forward ...
Capital News Service, March 17, 2017. "There is only a small group of people who are in favor of these contests," [Fish Feel's Mary] Finelli said. "It's willful ignorance because this is how they have fun."
"Maryland still needs to fully ban these contests that are not only cruel and unnecessary, but also target a species that science shows is vulnerable to overfishing," said Mary Finelli, Chair of the Save the Rays Coalition.
Back in 2015, the ray killing contest was filmed after Maryland-based Fish Feel asked Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) to get involved. Stuart Chaifetz, an investigator for SHARK, told The Dodo, “The video we captured that year, and in 2016, featured animal cruelty so violent and vicious that it ...
“Scientists have pointed out they’re being scapegoated for the decrease in the oyster population, which in actuality are due to over-fishing for human consumption, pollution and disease,” according to Finelli.
Animal-rights groups such as SHARK and Fish Feel have been keeping the issue alive on social media.
“All the nutrition we get from fish and animals, we can easily get from plants,” said Mary Finelli of Fish Feel, a nonprofit based in Maryland.
Fish Feel's Mary Finelli is quoted in this Outside magazine article.
This week's $5 Friday pick is the incomparable Fish Feel.
A discussion on Fish Feel being the the sole organization devoted to promoting the recognition of fish as sentient beings deserving of respect and protection.
Lori speaks with Mary Finelli founder and President of Fish Feel. Chesapeake Bay cownose rays are being slaughtered by bow fishers during senseless cruel contests. The rays are docile, and not responsible for the decreasing oyster population as has been claimed. July 30, 2016
"We will continue exposing the brutal and ecologically reckless killing,” pledged Fish Feel founder and president Mary Finelli, “but what is really needed is for the government to step up and give the rays the protection they desperately need, and the public wants them to have, by banning this animal ...
Letter in BayNet by Michael Gurwitz and Mary Finelli, Fish Feel director, published July 5, 2016
Fred's Sports recently sponsored a cruel and inhumane competition called "the Battle of the Rays." This competition was held on the Patuxent River (in the Chesapeake Bay watershed), and video taken by an animal rights organization shows cownose rays shot with arrows, gaffed with hooks and then beaten with aluminum baseball bats. ...
Fish Feel president Mary Finelli believes the report and recent scientific evidence should be enough to spur the Maryland government to action. "These rays have been wrongfully vilified," Finelli said. "In addition to egregious cruelty, it is environmentally reckless."
"It's brutal," said Mary Finelli of Maryland-based animal rights group Fish Feel. "It's vicious, savage, sadistic. It's appalling. The government has a responsibility to protect Maryland wildlife."
Mary Finelli, President of Fish Feel said: "There is no valid justification for the vicious massacre of these gentle creatures who are merely trying to survive.”
Last Saturday, the New York outfit "American Bowhunters" sponsored a cownose ray tournament on the Patuxent River, and in the run-up to it drew the condemnation of two animal rights groups, Fish Feel and SHARK, who asked Maryland's Department of Natural Resources to stop bowfishing tournaments outright — calling it ...
SHARK and sister organization Fish Feel have also petitioned Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Mark Belton to take action against the contest and slaughter of the cownose rays.
Is the state going to act responsibly or stand by and let countless more of these animals be massacred?" asks Mary Finelli, president of Fish Feel. SHARK and sister organization Fish Feel have also petitioned Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Mark Belton to take action against the contest and ...
Our (slightly edited) letter appears in the online, and May 19, 2016 print edition, of the New York Times.
Animal protection groups are asking the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to prevent bowfishers from carrying out yet more bloodbaths on native and beloved cownose rays of the Chesapeake Bay – another cownose ray killing "contest" is set for June 26, in Solomons, MD.
Graphic undercover footage of a killing contest that occurred on June 13 documents the horrific slaughter of cownose rays. Shot by arrows at point-blank range, the rays were then gaffed and repeatedly clubbed with bats before slowly suffocating to death. Many were pregnant, and mothers and babies were obscenely abused. ...
An AP investigation helps free slaves in the 21st century.
Over the course of 18 months, Associated Press journalists located men held in cages, tracked ships and stalked refrigerated trucks to expose the abusive practices of the fishing industry in Southeast Asia. The reporters’ dogged effort led to the release of ...
Promoting dolphin captivity to very young children through a toy is unacceptable. This playset is teaching children that dolphins exist strictly for human entertainment and will likely create a desire to see these animals in captive environments.
Walgreens Boots Alliance is supporting the plunder of Antarctica and one of the last unspoiled oceans on the planet. The pharmacy duo is marketing and selling Antarctic krill oil as a health supplement -- vacuuming masses of krill from the Antarctic oceans and pumping them into pills. And it's putting the entire ...
The Bearded Vegans finds hosts Paul and Andy in a discussion dissecting all things vegan. This week the bearded vegans cover travels to Portland, vegan news including the announcement that Kikkoman will stop testing on animals and have an in depth discussion about whether or not vegans should take the Liberation ...
Was that fish on your plate once a sentient being? Scientists have long believed that the animals aren’t capable of the same type of conscious thought we are because they fail the “emotional fever” test. When researchers expose birds, mammals (including humans), and at least one species of lizard to ...
Mary Finelli, of Montgomery County, filmed the video. She's a member of Fish Feel, a Silver Spring-based organization "devoted exclusively to promoting the recognition of fish as sentient beings deserving of respect and protection," according to the organization's website. "These tournaments are just for the thrill of the kill," she ...
Fish Feel letter to the Editor. Southern Maryland News, August 21, 2015
The amount of fish in the oceans has halved since 1970, in a plunge to the "brink of collapse" caused by over-fishing and other threats, the WWF conservation group said on Wednesday. Populations of some commercial fish stocks, such as a group including tuna, mackerel and bonito, had fallen by ...
Fight Walmart Fish Cruelty is an oranization fighting the cruelty towards fish in Walmart stores nationwide. We need Walmart to stop selling fish, and we need you! We can't stop it alone, so we need you guys to help us. Call Walmart, go to your Walmart, and just keep pressing ...
It is now widely accepted that fish feel pain. In fact, fish process pain in much the same way as mammals. The fish in the video exhibit pronounced aversive responses to their handling, such as violently flopping and attempting to move away, suggesting that they indeed feel pain and are ...
The aquarium trade serves a dark hobby, confining coral reef wildlife and destroying reefs around the world. Stripping reefs for an amusement industry is theoretically no different than capturing cetaceans for commercial shows. 98% of aquarium fish are wild caught. Many people may not reflect on the colorful fish in ...
Acting on behalf of at least 2.1 billion sentient beings per year who are pureed or boiled alive, to little public notice, the Environmental Protection Agency on May 19, 2014 issued final rules for water use in the cooling systems of electrical generating stations. The new rules apply ...
by Mary Finelli, President and Founder of Fish Feel
Earth is home to more than 30,000 known species of fish, which is more than all the other species of vertebrate animals combined. Fish are inquisitive, personable, and truly fascinating. Did you know that they are fast learners with long-term memories and ...
Fish Feel letter was published in The New York Times on Monday, April 20, 2015, in response to an op-ed by former fisherman Douglas M. Thompson. He noted that native wild trout have nearly disappeared due to “immense fishing pressure,” and pointed out serious environmental problems caused by fish hatcheries. ...
Animal rights representatives included Mary Finelli, founder of Fish Feel, a Silver Spring, Md., group that asks people to quit catching and eating fish. Fish are sentient creatures, and even catch-and-release fishing traumatizes them, according to Finelli.” [As noted then, it also injures and often kills them.] Richmond Times Dispatch, ...
On today’s show, we speak with Mary Finelli of Fish Feel. Mary is a long-time animal rights activist with a B.S. in Animal Science. She has worked for various animal protection organizations in the past, and is currently President of Fish Feel. Fish Feel is the sole organization devoted exclusively ...
There are so many nonviolent ways for children to enjoy experiencing the outdoors. Fishing is not one of them (“Take a Kid Fishing,” April 13 Outdoors). Science has shown that fish can suffer fear and pain. Catch-and-release fishing is also extremely harmful to fish. Studies have shown that many do ...
Feel article in the current (Spring 2014) issue of Pathways magazine. In consideration of this publication’s audience interests, the health hazards of consuming fish and fish oil are emphasized. Pages 39-41. Pathways is a quarterly journal and resource guide for the greater Washington DC area.
Fish Feel's Mary Finelli was a guest on Go Vegan Radio (KPFA 94.1, Berkeley, Ca.) with host Bob Linden, on the March 2nd broadcast. President of Fish Feel, Mary schools us on the many plights of billions of feeling fish – from large-scale fishing to fish farms, catch and release, ...
Originally published by Our Hen House — February 26, 2014
Why don’t more people, including animal advocates, speak up for fish? That was one of the questions that prompted longtime activist Mary Finelli to start Fish Feel, an organization dedicated to ending the myths surrounding these sentient creatures, shedding light on their oppression, and encouraging ...
Most of us take seafood for granted and have no awareness about the intelligence, sentience and complex social lives of fish or of the critical state of their marine and freshwater environments. All the people who eat seafood and feed it to their cats and dogs should become more aware ...
Ethologist Jonathan Balcombe, Ph.D., a returning guest, and Mary Finelli, founder and director of Fish Feel, will astound you with their fascinating conversation with Victoria Moran about what humans have very recently learned about the lives and sophistication of beings who live in the water. December 11, 2013, podcast.
The Third Annual Bethlehem (PA) VegFest was held September 7, 2013, was a wonderful all-vegan event with an estimated attendance of 10,000 people. Fish Feel's exhibit was well received, and we made many great new contacts there. You can see our booth, which is the first one in the photo.
Our colorful new Powerpoint presentation was a hit at the well-attended initial session of the Peace Advocacy Network’s 2014 Vegan Pledge program held in Falls Church, Va., on April 26th. Fish Feel’s Mary Finelli addressed the attendees, as did Gary Lowenthal (a Fish Feel board member). Mary also spoke to ...
The groups, Fish Feel and SHARK, said they would lobby the governor to stop the bowfishing tournaments. Local news channels carried footage of the ray slaughter, along with multiple warnings that the footage viewers were about to watch was disturbing. The animal rights groups also said they would lobby federal ...
Finelli, who’s with a group called Fish Feel, says the contests are threatening a species. “These are very slow-generating animals. They don’t mature until seven years of age. They have one pup a year. This could very easily decimate the population,” she said.
“Any decent person that sees what’s being done ...
"It really just goes to show you the type of depravity that these killing contests generate," said Mary Finelli of Silver Srping. Her group Fish Feel helped SHARK try to draw attention to what they said is an inhumane contest that needs to be banned.
Chaifetz and activists from Fish Feel called on Gov. Larry Hogan to ban the practice of ray fishing, saying that the migratory species doesn't pose a real risk to watermen by eating oysters, calms and crabs from the bay.
The release of the videos has at least sparked a discussion, with ...
Mary Finelli with Fish Feel, an animal rights group, called the contest a bloodbath. "A lot of scuba divers are familiar with how personable these rays are and friendly, and I think people can photograph them. Killing these rays takes them away from people who want to peacefully enjoy them," ...
Animals 24-7, Merritt Clifton, March 2, 2014
Our Brochure
Fish Sentience
For centuries, a common belief has been the Cartesian claim that nonhuman animal species were incapable of suffering pain. Thankfully, that fallacy is now rejected nearly universally in regard to mammalian and avian species. Tragically, the ignorance largely continues in regard to fish. While many people intuitively and/or intellectually realize that fish can suffer pain, society at large still views and treats fish as insentient beings.