Shock in France after giant trawler sheds 100,000 dead fish off coast

Environmentalists spot floating carpet of blue whiting covering thousands of square metres after spill from the FV Margiris

Dutch-owned trawler FV Margiris, the world's second-biggest fishing vessel, has shed more than 100,000 dead fish into the Atlantic Ocean off France.

France's maritime minister, Annick Girardin, called the images of the dead fish - which formed a floating carpet of carcasses spotted by environmental campaigners - shocking" and has asked the national fishing surveillance authority to launch an investigation.