OCEAN CITY, Md.- Ocean City is considered the white marlin capital of the world. It is common practice for fishermen to release the fish after catching them.

An awareness campaign underway by a marina in Worcester County to promote the catch and release of white marlin is getting some attention. White Marlin Marina in Ocean City is selling T-shirts to raise money for marlin conservation awareness. But what is printed on those t-shirts is raising some eyebrows.

The slogan on the T-shirt reads "White Lives Matter." There is a picture of a marlin in the middle of the phrase.



The shirts are being sold by George Lamplugh, an employee at White Marlin Marina.

"At the end of the day, it is about marlin conservation, and it is a fishing T-shirt", says Lamplugh.

People walking the Ocean City boardwalk Wednesday had varying opinions about the shirt.



"Some can go too far, taking it out of context, but I don't believe this is taking it out of context," said Stephen Bradford of Middletown, Del.

"I have no issue with it, but someone of another race might", said Shelly Riley of Smithfield, Va.



"Some people will take it the wrong way as a racial slur and bypass the fish. We know it is for a good cause, but you're going to have people take it the wrong way, said Ron Sampson, an African-American man.



Lamplugh is also selling "Blue Lives Matter" shirts to raise awareness of blue marlin conservation and he says he would sell another shirt if it was appropriate to the area. "If we were catching black marlin in Ocean City, I would sell "Black Lives Matter" T-shirts, he said.

Lamplugh says a portion of the shirts sales will go toward billfish conservation efforts.