Tired of the same old liberal causes? Here's one you might not have heard of: "Fish," according to a spokeswoman for the Fish Empathy Project, "are interesting individuals who deserve our respect and compassion." Not since the British poet Rupert Brooke wrote about "each secret fishy hope or fear" way back in 1915 has a human being reached out so kindly to the oppressed members of the class Osteichthyes.

Probably not many people realized the world needed a Fish Empathy Project. But think about it. Empathy abounds for war refugees, earthquake survivors, tsunami victims, the poor, and even such people-pleasing creatures as dogs, cats, elephants and red-crowned cranes. But fish?

Does anybody care? Apparently they do. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the international group to which the Fish Empathy Project belongs, definitely feels fish don't get enough respect. And last month, the Project moved to remedy that by bestowing a humanitarian award on a Roman city councilor who had successfully proposed a ban on goldfish bowls.