A spill of greater than 100,000 lifeless fish within the Atlantic Ocean off the French coast has been described by the French Maritime Minister as "surprising" in an incident that has drawn the eye of environmental activist teams.
The French arm of Sea Shepherd -- a non-profit marine conservation activism group -- posted images of the spill to its Twitter web page on Thursday. "Here's what is going on proper now within the Bay of Biscay off the coast of La Rochelle," the tweet stated. "4 manufacturing facility boats function in that space, together with the Margiris -- the second largest trawler on the earth (banned in Australia)."
The pictures posted by Sea Shepherd present an astonishing mass of lifeless fish -- that are blue whiting, a sub-species of cod -- floating on the water. The Dutch-owned Margiris has been described as a "mammoth super-trawler" by Greenpeace.
The Pelagic Freeze-Trawler Affiliation (PFA) -- which represents the vessel's proprietor -- launched a press release on Friday addressing the incident and stated it absolutely "understands the feelings such pictures can convey."
Within the assertion, the PFA additionally stated: "We want to make clear that round 5.50am on 3 February 2022, an quantity of blue whiting was involuntarily launched into the ocean from the Margiris vessel, because of a rupture within the cod-end a part of its internet. Such an accident is a uncommon incidence and on this case was attributable to the unexpectedly massive dimension of the fish caught. Consistent with EU regulation, the incident and the portions misplaced have been recorded within the vessel's log ebook and reported to the authorities of the vessel's flag state, Lithuania."
Annick Girardin -- the French minister for Fisheries and Maritime points -- stated the sight of the lifeless fish was "surprising" and requested the nationwide fishing surveillance authority to launch an investigation, to "make clear that difficulty in order that we establish the causes of the numerous dumping of fishes."
In a tweet, Girardin additionally added: "France helps sustainable fishing and this is not mirrored right here. Ought to an infraction have occurred, sanctions could be taken towards the accountable shipowner that can be recognized."
Virginijus Sinkevičius -- the EU Commissioner for Surroundings, Oceans and Fisheries -- additionally commented on the case and known as it an "unlucky incident within the Bay of Biscay."
On Twitter, he stated the EU Fee "would react instantly" and are launching an inquiry to nationwide authorities of the fishing space and the presumed flag state of the vessel, to get exhaustive info and proof concerning the case."
Lamya Essemlali -- the top of Sea Shepherd's French arm -- instructed Reuters she believed the fish had been intentionally discharged.
Trawling of this scale is an act that many environmental activists usually protest towards -- in 2021, CNN identified that "daily, 1000's of fishing boats around the globe drag big weighted nets throughout the seafloor, ensnaring all the things of their wake and destroying marine habitats" in a narrative on backside trawling, a course of that has been described by scientists as "bulldozing" the ocean ground.
The NGO Sea Shepherd discovers 1000's of lifeless fish, greater than 100,000 untargeted lifeless blue whiting, within the Atlantic Ocean off the French coast. (Sea Shepherd/Abaca/ZUMA Press/CNN)
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