GLENEDEN BEACH, Ore. — A highway billboard in the middle of this historic fishing community on the Oregon coast aimed to convince tourists to “Save the Whales” — by not eating fish!

The billboard on Hwy. 101 normally boasted local restaurants and their seafood specials, but the animal-rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) managed to rent the massive sign as a thumb in the eye of Lincoln County’s $190 million commercial fishing industry.

An estimated 12,000 motorists a day pass the sign, which may carry a more subtle message: a political pitch for Oregon voters to pass initiative measure IP28, a law that would ban fishing altogether and turn Oregonians into vegans.

The “Save the Whales…Don’t Eat Fish” ad campaign is a provocative effort by PETA to connect seafood consumption with the accidental death and injury of marine mammals, mainly through entanglement in nets and crab pots. Because PETA deliberately placed the ads in regions with deep economic ties to the seafood industry, such as Lincoln County, the campaign has sparked significant pushback.

According to a report by the Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln Co., commercial fishing represents 16 percent of all income in Lincoln County, second only to the tourism business (23 percent, or $262 million).

With a $1.1 billion statewide impact, the Oregon fishing industry has often clashed with PETA as an existential threat to coastal economies. However, the tension has escalated over IP28, on the Nov. 3 ballot. Backed financially by PETA, the measure would eliminate exemptions in animal cruelty laws for fishing, harvesting shellfish, hunting and slaughtering livestock, thereby criminalizing those activities.

Depoe Bay charter operator Tadd Mick said the proposed law is a bad notion economically and environmentally. He predicted IP28 would hollow-out coast cities and defund critical conservation funding raised through license fees and excise taxes.

“This crazy idea would completely collapse an Oregon economic sector that employs 15,000 people,” asserted Tadd Mick, co-owner of Tradewinds Charters. “We see both sides, fishing and whale watching. We protect those resources every day by working with regulators and scientists to make them sustainable.”

Prominent elected officials from both parties have said they are opposed to Initiative Petition 28, including Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek and her Republican challenger, Sen. Christine Drazen.