The surface of the Atlantic Ocean was covered with thousands of dead fish. More than 100,000 dead blue whiting were poured into the sea from the Margiris Ship, the world’s second largest fishing trawler, in the Bay of Biscay, located in the west of France. The French office of the non-governmental organization Sea Shepherd, which works to protect sea creatures, reacted to the situation by announcing that the dead fish spread over an area of about 3 thousand square meters on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the country. “This is the current situation in the Bay of Biscay off La Rochelle. There are 4 trawlers operating in the area, including the Margiris, the world’s second largest trawler (banned in Australia),” the statement said.
INDUSTRIAL FISHING HAS BEEN VICTORY
According to Sea Shepherd, who spotted dead fish on the sea surface, the blue whiting were victims of industrial fisheries operated in the area by 4 ships. Sea Shepherd France Leader Lamya Essemlali claimed that these fish were not targeted, they were caught in huge nets and thrown back into the sea to take up space on the ship.
‘A VERY RARE EVENT’
However, Margiris, one of the 4 ships that Sea Shepherd blamed, denied the accusations and declared that the incident was an “accident”. In the statement made by the Pelagic Freezer-Trawl Association (PFA) on behalf of the ship, “A small amount of blue whiting was unintentionally released into the sea due to the tear at the end of the net of the Margiris ship. According to the European legislation, the incident and the captured quantities were recorded in the ship logbook and reported in the ship’s log. The incident was reported to the ship’s logbook. reported to authorities in Lithuania, the country of registration. It was stated that the leak, which occurred as a result of the tearing of the net, was “a very rare event”.
INVESTIGATION INSTRUCTIONS
French Maritime Minister Annick Girardin described the images of dead fish as shocking and ordered an investigation. While Girardin confirmed that the incident was reported in the logbook, he nevertheless requested an administrative investigation. In his post on his social media account, Girardin said, “If the violation is proven, sanctions will be imposed on the responsible shipowner”.
(UAV)