Images that shocked, and raise the issue of fish discarded by fishing vessels, a practice partially prohibited in the European Union, but poorly applied.

The NGO Sea Shepherd filed a complaint on Tuesday against the vessel Margiris for failure to comply with the obligation to land caught species, as the vessel declared a fishing incident that led to the discarding of tens of thousands of dead fish .

The complaint was filed in Lorient, Sea Shepherd said.

"We gave them different elements on what we saw on the spot," said Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France.

The NGO filmed and photographed a huge school of dead blue whiting floating in the Bay of Biscay off La Rochelle on Thursday.

“They reject to make room for higher added value”

“When some vessels catch a very large quantity of fish with very low market value, such as blue whiting, they reject them to make room with higher added value, which is strictly illegal,” says Lamya Essemlali.

The European association of pelagic freezer trawlers (PFA) explained this rejection, declared by the factory vessel to the competent authorities, by a "substantial and unusual density in this area, of the school of fish targeted" which led to a rupture of the trawl.

Opening an investigation

The Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin announced on Friday that she had requested the opening of an administrative investigation.

She also clarified that the accident had been declared in the vessel's logbook and that these fish would be removed from her quota.

European Commissioner for Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius also announced via Twitter the opening of an investigation.

"There was an unauthorized discharge", observes the Ministry of the Sea. flag, in this case Lithuania, with a copy to the European Commission to ensure that the flag State takes legal or administrative action" against the ship, according to the same source.

Planet

Bay of Biscay: The "unusual" density of a school of fish involved in the discharge of blue whiting by a trawler

Miscellaneous facts

Martinique: A whale dies after being stranded in a port

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