Animal activists are fuming after a group of fishermen caught and killed an enormous black marlin.

Outrage was sparked when pictures were posted online of the massive 650 kilogram black marlin, which was caught off the Fraser Island coast in Queensland this week.

Social media users slammed the group, calling them ‘cruel’ for killing the creature.

Outrage was sparked when pictures were posted online of the massive 650 kilogram Black Marlin, which was caught off the Fraser Island coast in Queensland this week

Social media users have slammed the group, calling them ‘cruel’ for killing the creature

‘Good work heroes! Another animal killed for a photo op, well done,’ one person said.

‘This is so wrong, so many people trying to justify that it’s okay because it died in the fight to get it in.. why can’t you see how horrible that is?’ another person person said.

‘This poor thing is just living its life in the deep blue when all of a sudden its getting dragged through the water by a hook in it mouth, stressing out, not having a clue what is going on, then to die because of it all. Human impact is a scary thing.’

‘Let’s hope it’s used for something otherwise it’s just like a fat American standing over a lion in Africa it’s a pity this beautiful fish died otherwise.’

‘This is so wrong, so many people trying to justify that it’s okay because it died in the fight to get it in.. why can’t you see how horrible that is?’ one social media user said

However, one user was quick to point out unlike Lions, swordfish are not endangered.

The group who posted the photo, called Fishing with Scotto, responded to the criticism saying big game anglers tag and release more than 95 per cent of their catch.

The group also said commercial fishing fleets around the world kill and process thousands of tonnes of marlin, including around 15,000 tonnes from the Indian Ocean each year and 300 tonnes of striped marlin from Australian waters.