France and the European Union have launched an investigation into why a huge trawler dumped a large number of dead fish into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of France after an environmental group released dramatic video and images.
A group called Sea Shepherd has captured images of a mass of dead blue whiting floating in the Bay of Biscay off the southwestern coast of France. The group estimates there were around 100,000 dead fish.
After seeing the distressing images, French Maritime Affairs Minister Annick Girardin tweeted on Friday that she had ordered the National Center for Fishing Surveillance to investigate what really happened.
European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevs, announced that detailed information and evidence regarding the national authority for fishing areas and the flag of the vessel are being investigated.
The Pelagic Freezer Association, which represents the Lithuanian-registered trawler 'Margiris', which caught the fish, said in a statement that the fish were 'unintentionally released into the sea' on Thursday after the trawler's net was torn.
The statement said that such incidents are very rare and that the incident occurred due to an unexpectedly large catch. The statement said that the trawler had followed the usual rules for catching unusual quantities of fish in that area.
Sea Shepherd, however, questioned whether it was an accident or whether the fish were deliberately dumped into the sea. The group called for more monitoring of the seas, especially of large commercial trawlers, to protect marine life and the ocean.
