The Steamship Authority plans to halt advertising on its ferries after a PETA ad ruffled feathers with fishermen and boat line officials. 

The Steamship board of governors, in a split vote Tuesday, decided to honor any existing advertising contracts until they expire, before stopping the practice altogether. The move will result in the loss of about $100,000 annually in revenue, but some board members felt they didn’t want to display controversial ads to passengers. 

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals campaign ran earlier this year, placing six aboard the M/V Martha’s Vineyard. The ads featured a message reading “Did Your Lobster Kill a Whale?” 

The activist nonprofit placed the advertisements in May, after a dead right whale washed up on State Beach with a lobster rope from Maine embedded in its tail. The state Division of Marine Fisheries eventually placed a counter-advertisement on the ferry offering a contrasting viewpoint. 

This PETA ad prompted discussions about changing the Steamship Authority's ad policy. — Courtesy of PETA

Vineyard Steamship board member James Malkin previously said that constituents complained about the PETA ads, and he called for an immediate moratorium on new advertising until the board could review the authority’s ad policy. 

The board asked staff to investigate whether the ferry line could restrict advertising to governments or strengthen the policy to prohibit certain types of similar advertising in the future. 

On Tuesday, communications director Sean Driscoll said the Steamship Authority really only had two options: keep the status quo or stop advertising. The ferry line has had advertising on boats and in terminals for almost 20 years and there have been few incidents of controversy in that time, according to staff.

Setting up a screening process could lead to legal issues and Mr. Driscoll and the Steamship Authority’s attorney recommended staying with the current policy, while adding disclaimers that ads aren’t endorsed by the ferry line.

“Anything short of that, basically we’re worried about being sued,” said Mr. Driscoll. “So our options that we’re presenting are to potentially leave it as it is or shut it all down.”

Robert Ranney, the Nantucket board member, was the lone vote against stopping advertising.

“I believe the staff recommendation is a good one,” he said.

Mr. Malkin, Barnstable member Robert Jones and Falmouth member Peter Jeffrey voted in favor of banning advertising. 

Advertising could come back if the board decided to revisit the issue, Mr. Malkin said.