World News for Students of English

11-02-2022 07:00

Dutch-owned trawler FV Martinis is the world’s second biggest fishing vessel, and it has shed more than 100,000 dead fish into the Atlantic Ocean off France.

A fishing industry represented the vessel’s owner and explained that the spill was caused by a rupture in the net of the trawler. The fish mainly were blue whiting, a sub-species of cod that is used to mass-produce fish fingers, fish oil and meal. According to an environmental group Sea Shepherd, the spill covers an area of about 3,000 square meters. France’s maritime minister called the images shocking of the floating dead fish, and he asked to launch an investigation.

Trawlers like the Martinis use drag nets more than a kilometer long, and they put the fish in onboard factories. Environmentalists heavily criticize this practice. They say that the nets catch all fish, which makes it difficult for the population to grow big again. It has an impact on the fish population and on the predators such as dolphins who starve as a result.

Difficult words: trawler (a large boat that uses a wide net to catch fish), shed (to drop), rupture (the act when something breaks or bursts suddenly), mass- (a large amount).

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