After an environmental group posted spectacular video and images of the incident, France and the European Union are investigating why a huge swarm of dead fish was discharged by a huge trawler in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of France.
A blanket of dead blue whiting fish floats on the surface of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of southwest France, according to photographs taken by the Sea Shepherd organisation. It was estimated that it held 100,000 dead fish, according to the group.
The “shocking” photographs prompted French Maritime Minister Annick Girardin to initiate an investigation by the National Center for Fishing Surveillance on Friday.
Virginijus Sinkeviius, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, announced an investigation into “national authorities of the fishing region and the putative flag state of the vessel, in order to get exhaustive information and proof regarding the case.”
The fish were “involuntarily released into the water” on Thursday due to a tear in the trawler’s net, according to the Pelagic Freezer-Trawler Association, which represents the Lithuania-registered trawler Margiris, which captured the fish.
“Such an accident is unusual, and in this case was triggered by the surprisingly high size of the fish caught,” the statement read. The trawler’s procedures have been modified to deal with “the unusual size of the fish now in the area concerned,” according to the report.
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