August 8 marks the start of Ocean City’s White Marlin Open, the “World’s Largest & Richest Billfish Tournament,” with $4.42 million in prize money. This is the 43rd annual competition, held in the White Marlin capital of the world, Ocean City, Maryland, every summer. Last year’s winner, Cheryl McLeskey, became the first woman to ever win the tournament. The tournament prides itself on helping conserve Atlantic billfish populations, in order to “preserve the opportunity to pass on the unique thrill of billfishing to future generations.” They report that of the 695 billfish caught at last year’s event, 99.8% were released.
However, this year a local marina began selling shirts that read “White Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter” to promote the conservation of White and Blue Marlin populations. The designer of the shirts, George Lamplugh, told Fox News that the shirts are meant to promote the use of circle hooks, which increase survival rates in catch-and-release fishing. He stresses that Marlin conservation is an important issue, having been around for 100 years. He then added, “As soon as we bring in the first black Marlin, we’ll have a Black Lives Matter shirt.”
The President of the local NAACP, Ivory Smith, responded that mocking both the Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movement would potentially cause problems for the tournament. Smith’s statement on Black Lives Matter was, “Let me be clear, all lives do matter, whether they’re white or black, cop or civilian, fish or dog… However, we’re living in a time where African-Americans are suffering from a disproportionate amount of violence, and we do need to address that.” Regarding the shirts themselves, Smith says he “wouldn’t be surprised if someone wearing these shirts got punched in the face.”
The shirts remain in circulation, as the tournament has brought in countless competitive fishermen and women, as well as spectators, who see it as a harmless fishing reference. Sbynews.blogspot.com reported Black Lives Matter protesters were expected, and the post contains countless anonymous comments encouraging violence towards the protesters. The White Marlin Open Tournament Facebook page states, “While we support billfish conservation we do not support doing so in an incendiary manner. The White Lives Matter t-shirts are not from The White Marlin Open. Thank You.” Regardless of George Lamplugh’s intentions, the shirts were a direct play on phrases used to call attention to recent attacks on both police lives and the lives of the black American population. Both “Blue Lives Matter” and “White Lives Matter” have serious meaning that surpasses an innocent joke for the protection of the Atlantic fishing industry.
BlackLivesMatter.com describes the movement as, “an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.” The Blue Lives Matter mission statement is, “Serving and honoring American law enforcement by tirelessly celebrating their lives and contributions to the communities they protect.” Both movements exist to celebrate the lives of a demographic whose lives are often at risk, whether because of their chosen profession or systemic oppression and racial profiling. They are not something you can joke about without the repercussions of mocking the deaths of countless innocent men, women, and children. You cannot capitalize on the popularity of a movement raising awareness for unjust murder.
So, speaking to George Lamplugh directly, when a White Marlin is shot and killed for selling CDs outside of a gas station, playing with a toy gun in a park, wearing a hoodie, or failing to use its signal when changing lanes, then you can make a Marlin Lives Matter t-shirt.
