Investigation opened into the discharge of thousands of fish into the Atlantic

(Paris) French and European authorities are investigating after a large trawler threw tens of thousands of dead fish into the Atlantic Ocean.

An environmental group released videos and photos of the event.

Images released by the Sea Shepherd group show dead blue whiting floating on the surface of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of southwestern France. The group estimated the number of dead fish at 100,000.

Shaken by these “shocking images”, the French Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin asked the National Fisheries Monitoring Center “to shed light on this subject in order to identify the causes of these significant discards of fish”.

The European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, has also announced the opening of an investigation.

In a press release the Pelagic Frieza-Trawler Association, which represents the faulty Lithuanian trawler, the Margirisexplained that “the trawl containing blue whiting had broken accidentally, thereby unintentionally releasing fish into the sea”.

“This trawl rupture is explained in particular by the substantial and unusual density in this area, of the targeted school of fish”, writes the association.

The ship has draconian measures in place to prevent this from happening again, she added.

Sea Shepherd wonders if this is a simple accident or a deliberate release of unwanted fish. The group calls for greater surveillance of factory ships in order to protect life in the seas and oceans.