July 30, 2018 — On Saturday, several vegan activists gathered at a popular fishing tournament to protest eating meat.

The Wilmington Fish Save and North Carolina Farmed Animal Save organized the protest, called Vigil for Fish, to raise awareness about animal rights during the annual Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge, which pays out over $15,000 in cash and prizes to fishermen.

“We’re vegan activists, and we want to bring awareness to what fish go through,” said protester Daniel Veber to WCET. “Look at it from this fish’s point of view. If you were in your home, you would not want a hook to be hooked in the mouth, you would not want to be pulled up, you wouldn’t have to fight hours for your life to be pulled up. It’s scary.”

The ten protesters carried signs reading “Sea life not seafood,” “fish feel pain,” and “fish want to live.”

“We want to come out for the fish,” said Veber to WCET. “A lot of times, they look so different from us that you don’t really put them into a position where you give them individual status, where they are actually individuals that want to live. They don’t want to pulled out of the water, fish have families, fish want to live.”

Guy Hurley, an organizer of the fishing tournament, told WCET he respects the protestors and is “glad we live in a place where you can protest,” but claims the tournament is not unethical.

Read the full story at Fox News