As Lake Michigan ports go, Grand Haven is an angler’s paradise. If People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals gets its way, it also will be home to a lighthouse café — serving faux fish sticks — where patrons learn about the evils of fishing.
PETA said in a letter to the National Park Service this week that it wants to take over Grand Haven’s historic twin red lighthouses once they go on a list of surplus properties this year or next. Because PETA is a nonprofit, its bid to maintain the lighthouses could be considered.
The way the animal rights group sees it, Grand Haven would be a perfect place to drum up compassion for fish. To do so, it would point to research it says suggests that fish have feelings, too, rubbing against each other to show affection, developing individual personalities, even learning to grieve.