Environmentalists spotted a floating carpet of blue cod covering thousands of square feet after the FV Margiris spill.
The Dutch trawler FV Margiris, the second largest fishing vessel in the world, has dumped more than 100,000 dead fish into the Atlantic Ocean off France.
French maritime minister Anique Girardin called photos of dead fish forming a floating carpet seen by conservationists “shocking” and asked the national fisheries watchdog to launch an investigation.
European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginia Sinkevičius also said she was looking for “comprehensive information and evidence on the case.”
The spill, which occurred early Thursday morning, was caused by a ruptured trawler net, the Pelagic Freezer Trawler Association (PFA), which represents the ship’s owner, said. In a statement, the group called the spill “a very rare occurrence.”
“In accordance with EU legislation, this is recorded in the logbook and reported to the authorities of the Lithuanian flag state,” the message says. It is specified that dead fish will be withdrawn from the ship’s quota.
The French arm of the Sea Shepherd campaign has released photos of the spill for the first time, showing the ocean surface covered in thick layers of blue cod, a subspecies of cod used to mass-produce fish sticks, fish oil and meal. According to the organization, the spill affected more than 100,000 fish and covered an area of about 3,000 square meters.
Trawlers like the Margiris use nets over a kilometer long and process fish into onboard factories, a move that has been heavily criticized by conservationists.
Following activist protests in 2012, the Margiris was forced to leave Australian waters. The vessel had a quota to take 18,000 tons of fish from the sea, but was banned by then-Environmental Labor Minister Tony Burke after a public outcry.
Traffic data from marinatraffic.com on Friday showed a Lithuanian-flagged vessel owned by the Dutch company Parleviliet & Van der Plas was still fishing off the coast of France.