The surface of the Atlantic Ocean in France 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 dead fish spread over an area of about 3.000 square meters on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the country. “This is what is happening right now in the Bay of Biscay off La Rochelle. Four trawler ships operate in the area, including the Margiris, the second largest trawler in the world (banned in Australia),” Sea Shepherd said on their official French social media account.
French Maritime Minister Annick Girardin described the images of dead fish as shocking, and she ordered an investigation regarding the incident. While Girardin confirmed that the incident was reported in the logbook, she nevertheless requested an administrative investigation. “I asked the National Fisheries Monitoring Center to shed light on this subject in order to identify the causes of these significant discards of fish. Of course, these images are shocking. If an infringement were to be proven, sanctions would be taken against the responsible shipowner who will be identified,” Girardin said in her official social media account.