PICTURES: Giant trawler sheds 100,000 dead fish off the coast of France, Sea Shepherd captures shocking images
THE STORY IN PICTURES: The world’s second-biggest fishing vessel, Dutch-owned trawler FV Margiris, dumped more than 100,000 dead fish into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of France on Thursday. Yet it is quite literally a drop in the ocean when compared to the scale of death, suffering and devastation inflicted by the world’s fishing industries. Marine conservation activists from Sea Shepherd were there to capture the shocking images.
Sea Shepherd France first published the images of the spill, in which we see the ocean’s surface covered by a layer of blue whiting, who are used to produce fish fingers, fish oil and meal. The campaign group estimated that the spill involved more than 100,000 fish across an area of approximately 3,000 square metres.
Annick Girardin, France’s maritime minister, described the photographs as “shocking” and has called for an investigation. The European commissioner for environment, oceans and fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, also joined calls to determine “exhaustive information and evidence about the case”.
Fishing industry group the Pelagic Freezer-Trawler Association (PFA) - representing Parlevliet & van der Plas, the owners of the FV Margiris - said the spill was a “very rare occurrence” that happened when one of the trawler’s nets ruptured.
“In line with EU law, this has been recorded in the vessel’s log book and reported to the authorities of the vessel’s flag state, Lithuania,” the PFA told the Guardian.
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The FV Margiris and other trawlers like it use huge drag nets stretching for more than a kilometre. Rather than return to land with each haul, they process the fish within onboard facilities, an enormously controversial practice.
In 2012, the FV Margiris was forced to leave Australian waters when public outcry resulted in a ban on its operation and its quota to haul 18,000 tonnes of fish. Despite this and the more recent spill, traffic data shows the Margiris still fishing off the coast of France.
“While much of the conversation around this event is centred around the environmental consequences of such a huge number of fish being caught and then accidentally discarded, what is being ignored is the fact that each of these 100,000 blue whiting was a sentient individual who suffered as a consequence of being needlessly ensnared in a net and killed,” said Surge co-director Ed Winters via Instagram.
“In reality, 100,000 fish is a tiny number when compared against the 0.8 to 2.3 trillion fish that are estimated to be caught from the oceans each year. The sheer scale of suffering we inflict on marine animals is astounding and yet their suffering is completely disregarded.
“So while the spill of 100,000 fish should generate international headlines, the needless capturing and slaughter of the other 0.8 to 2.3 trillion fish is equally as immoral and warranting of our condemnation.”
Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.
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