Animal Rights Group Will Protest MD Seafood Festival In Anne Arundel County

ANNAPOLIS, MD — An animal rights group will protest a seafood festival this weekend in Anne Arundel County.

The activists are from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also known as PETA. The group will set up outside the Maryland Seafood Festival, which is Saturday and Sunday at Sandy Point State State Park.

PETA said a car will circle the park showing a video of Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix "underwater, panicking and struggling to breathe." Phoenix is known for his roles in the movies "Her," "Walk the Line" and "Gladiator."

"In water, humans drown, just as fish suffocate on land," Phoenix said in a PETA press release. "It's slow and painful and frightening. … Put yourself in their place. Try to relate."

The video will circle the park, located near Annapolis at 1100 E. College Parkway, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on both festival days.

The 54th annual Maryland Seafood Festival will have a variety of food, drinks and activities. One of the vendors will be Jimmy's Famous Seafood.

The protesters accused Jimmy's of starting a billboard war with PETA. The group also alleged that Jimmy's mocks the animals they serve as food.

Mike Cornblatt, the business development manager for Jimmy's, said the protest will not stop the festival.

"Jimmy's Famous Seafood is proud to participate in the Maryland Seafood Festival at Sandy Point State Park," Cornblatt told Patch in an email. "We will not let a crazy Hollywood millionaire or PETA's deranged cultists prevent us from doing what we do, and that’s being a part of a great Maryland Tradition!"

PETA said its website offers vegan seafood alternatives.

"Fish, lobsters, and crabs are sensitive beings who value their own lives in the same way humans do," PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in the release. "PETA urges everyone to try to relate to who is on the plate and go vegan instead."

Residents can learn more about the activists at peta.org. More information on Jimmy's is posted at jimmysfamousseafood.com. Additional festival details are available at mdseafoodfestival.com.

Patch also requested a comment from the Maryland Seafood Festival, but the planners have not yet responded. We will update this story if they reply.