Tash Peterson: Notorious vegan activist crashes family’s fishing trip stealing rods to stop fish ‘murder’
Notorious vegan activist Tash Peterson has crashed a family’s fishing trip in a disturbing stunt filmed for her social media followers.
Vegan activist Tash Peterson has crashed a family’s fishing trip, stealing a man’s rods and calling them “torture equipment” in the latest disturbing stunt filmed for her social media followers.
Dressed in a hot pink exercise bra and blue high cut lycra shorts Peterson marches up to a man’s fishing rod, removes it from a sand spike and walks away with it before lecturing the bemused man and the young children accompanying him on “fish murder”.
“Animals deserve to live, fish feel pain and they want to live, you need to stop this now,” she said.
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Gesturing at a child with the man, she says “Your child is compassionate, he was clearly distressed by what just happened, your child has a heart, stop teaching him to abuse and murder animals.”
The incident, which played out on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, has sparked vicious backlash on social media with people outraged.
After stealing the first rod, the cameraman believed to be her husband Jack Higgs, tells her to “get the rest of them”, meaning the other fishing rods lined up along the beach.
She then stalks back to the shoreline and removes another rod, ranting “imagine what its like to have a hook in your mouth and suffocate to death”.
The man, who up to this point had not engaged apart from trying to stop the filming, then turns on Peterson and tells her to leave, blocking her as she tries to grab a third fishing rod.
“This should be illegal,” Peterson says to which he responds that it is legal. Higgs then jumps in from behind the camera with “legality isn’t morality”.
Higgs claims the man had just “murdered” a shark and countless other animals.
Tash Peterson backlash
In comments alongside the video posted to her Instagram page, Peterson wrote, “Fish are sentient individuals who have the right to not be exploited and abused. Respect non-human animals by living vegan,”
She continued, “If someone stepped in to stop a person shooting dogs, would the outrage be about the intervention, or about the dogs being killed?”.
Commenters on the video roasted Peterson for her double standards, questioning why she had touched another person’s belongings when she cried foul when others of took her signs and loudhailers during her protests.
“You don’t like when people grab your protest signs and your personal belongings, you should not touch other peoples stuff. This is not going to help make people vegan this just gives us a bad name … just approach kindly and have a conversation not steal his (sic) sht,” one posted.
Another wrote ”Whats funny is if any one touched her stuff she would cry for the police but her doing it no issues .... joke”.
Yet another added, “The exact reaction why vegans are hated. There are many ways to (sic) dissiminate one idea, your values, respect and love for animals, peace. Harassing a family at the beach is not one of them. This is what push people away from veganism.”
But Peterson also had her supporters, with a number of commenters backing her, including one who wrote “Fishing for fun is weird”.
Peterson’s history of activism
Peterson has a long history of provocative activism and was bankrupted after she and Higgs were sued for defamation by a Perth veterinary clinic owner.
In 2025, Peterson and Higgs were found to owe $172,911 to Kay McIntosh and her husband Andrew over comments she made in a video she shared to social media.
Peterson said in a video posted to social media in 2025 they were officially bankrupt and their passports were being taken away.
“On top of that, our personal accounts have been wiped, which means we have no money for everyday living expenses,” the activist said.
“So our money can be taken from us, and so can our passports, but our voices for non human people will never be taken away from us and will never stop speaking up for the victims of animal exploitation and the animal holocaust.”
Peterson was also banned from leaving WA for six months and fined in August 2024 after a viral clash at high-end Fyre restaurant in Perth where she played loud audio of squealing pigs while shouting about an “animal apocalypse” as diners tried to enjoy their food.
She pleaded guilty to two trespass and disorderly behaviour charges for two separate stand-offs at the restaurant.
