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The PFA also said: "We would like to clarify that around 5.50am on 3 February 2022, an amount of blue whiting was involuntarily released into the sea from the Margiris vessel, due to a rupture in the cod-end part of its net. Such an accident is a rare occurrence and in this case was caused by the unexpectedly large size of the fish caught. In line with EU law, the incident and the quantities lost have been recorded in the vessel's log book and reported to the authorities of the vessel's flag state, Lithuania."
In a statement to CNN, the PFA said: "The blue whiting is a target species (not by-catch) which is of great value to our members. We can tell you that it's not in the interest of our members to lose the fish. The lost fish will be deducted from the vessel's quota. The PFA's members fish only for human consumption, and we regret that the fish will now not be available for that purpose."
In a tweet, Girardin also added: "France supports sustainable fishing and this isn't reflected here. Should an infraction have occurred, sanctions would be taken against the responsible shipowner that will be identified."
Virginijus Sinkevičius -- the EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries -- also commented on the case and called it an "unfortunate incident in the Bay of Biscay."