One Beer-Battered Sea Kitten And Chips, Please

It's an obvious ruse to get the millions of Australian cat owners to start thinking about donating to PETA. It has to be. It's too insane to be anything other than an indirect marketing campaign to convince cat lovers (who traditionally couldn't care less about most other animals) that PETA are their kind of people :

Outspoken animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is using the "sea kitten" name as part of its push to restrict fishing.

"Nobody would hurt a sea kitten!" the group says on its website.

Don't be too sure about that. And why just fish? What about crabs, oysters and lobsters? They will need renaming as well. Some suggestions :

Lobsters : Ocean Bunnies

Crabs : Sand Koalas

Oysters : Water Squirrels

For the Japanese market, clearly whales need to be renamed Sea Pandas.

The (PETA) website features images of fish with cats' whiskers and ears.

Yes, it really does.

PETA is using the campaign to entice people to sign a petition calling on the US Fish and Wildlife Service to stop promoting "the hunting of sea kittens (otherwise known as fishing)".

For many, renaming fishing as "the hunting of sea kittens" will only encourage loading up the rod and reel and hitting the open water.