France and the European Union are investigating why an enormous swarm of lifeless fish was launched by an enormous trawler within the Atlantic Ocean off France after an environmental group launched dramatic video and pictures.
The photographs by the group Sea Shepherd present a blanket of lifeless blue whiting fish floating on the floor of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of southwest France. The group estimates it held some 100,000 lifeless fish.
Struck by the “surprising” photographs, French Maritime Minister Annick Girardin tweeted on Friday that she ordered the Nationwide Middle for Fishing Surveillance to research what occurred.
The European commissioner for the atmosphere, oceans and fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, introduced an inquiry into “nationwide authorities of the fishing space and presumed flag state of the vessel, to get exhaustive data and proof concerning the case.”
The Pelagic Freezer-Trawler Affiliation, which represents the Lithuania-registered trawler Margiris, which caught the fish, mentioned in a press release that the fish had been “involuntarily launched into the ocean” on Thursday due to a tear within the trawler’s internet.
“Such an accident is a uncommon incidence, and on this case was attributable to the unexpectedly massive dimension of the fish caught,” the affiliation mentioned. It mentioned the trawler has tailored its practices to take care of “the distinctive dimension of the fish at present within the space involved.”
Sea Shepherd, nevertheless, questioned whether or not it was an accident or as a substitute an intentional dump of undesirable fish. The group is looking for extra policing of the seas — and particularly of huge industrial trawlers — to guard sea life and oceans.