Mayor sinks ‘fish stinks’ signs offer

WEST Coast Mayor Phil Vickers has declined an offer from animal rights group PETA to adorn council buildings with pro-vegan “Fish Stinks” banners and has reaffirmed his support for the aquaculture industry.

Yesterday, a PETA spokeswoman said the group had written to Cr Vickers offering to pay the council to hang a banner from council buildings reading: “Fish Stinks, Go Vegan”.

It was in response to the Tasmanian Salmonid Growers Association’s claims of strong council support for its Notice of Intent to the Environment Protection Authority to build a temporary “mort holding facil- ity” at the aquaculture hub just outside Strahan to store dead fish in the event of a major loss of stock.

Cr Vickers wrote an open letter to the EPA earlier this month saying the statement from TSGA declaring the council was “extremely supportive of the project” was false. Yesterday, Cr Vickers stood by his letter, saying at the time there was a “lack of communication between the industry and the council”.

“Since then we have had two constructive meetings,” he said. “There are some in the community that don’t support aquaculture but it would be fair to say that the majority of West Coast residents do.”

PETA campaigns adviser Mimi Bekhechi said while a giant dead-fish graveyard would create quite a stench, it was the fish industry as a whole that reeked.

“Our advert would provide Tasmania’s residents with an important reminder that the most powerful step each one of us can take to prevent fish from dying needlessly in Macquarie Harbour and beyond, as well as protecting the planet and improving our health, is to go vegan,” she said.

Cr Vickers said he would not take up PETA’s offer to place banners on council buildings and said he laughed aloud when he read the letter.

“No we won’t be doing that,” he said. “Council has reaffirmed its support for the industry and the wealth and jobs it creates for Tassie.”