An Australian fisherman reeled in a 175cm sea beast while fishing on the weekend – his shocking discovery has sparked a debate online after people said it was too ‘magnificent’ to be caught

The 65-year-old fisherman unexpectedly reeled in the sea beast (Image: @NINE/Getty)
A stunned fisherman has faced backlash after he reeled in a monster sea creature which weighed a whopping 80kg.

The angler, from Brisbane, Australia, managed to land the bass grouper while fishing off the south Queensland coat on the weekend.

He hurled in a 30-pound (14kg) rated line and was left gobsmacked when he caught the 175cm, sea giant, by North Stradbroke Island.

The mega fish are usually found at ocean depths between 250m and 600m and can measure up to 200cm in length and reach 100kg, according to records.

The proud 65-year-old paraded the “magnificent” beast by posting images on social media, which has since caused a divide online, reports Daily Mail.

He caught the fish in his retirement saving boat (Image: Getty Images)

Some people praised him for his catch, as one person commented: “A worthy catch would have been a fight to get on the boat.”

However, one user said: “Please tell me it was let go, it’s probably older than the fisherman who caught it and now just a trophy.”

“Poor bugger, hope he was released,” a third person commented.

Another added: “I’m not an activist but that’s sad.”

Some users rushed to the angler’s defence and said he “obviously wasn’t targeting that fish” and pointed out the strength of his line.

He shared his whopping discovery online (Image: @NINE/Getty)

But others argued that it was the “world’s best 30-pound line” and highlighted that it was a “big jig to be swinging off that”.

Despite causing a split of opinion, commenters pointed out that even if the fish was let go, it probably wouldn’t have survived after the release.

“It would be a waste because a fish from those depths – if it’s 10cm or 1m – they get barotrauma, the rapid change in pressure causes the gases in the fish’s body to expand which is deadly,” a user added.

While another said: “You’ll never see such honesty shown by commercial fishers, there’s a toll on similar size fish of other species that goes unnoticed or unrecorded.”