A TV chef turned an endangered fish into fritters. Fishermen were furious, say report
A TV chef fried a fish on the endangered-species list on an Austrian show.
The IUCN has listed the Frauennerfling, or pigo, as "in danger" since 2013.
The chef and the broadcaster, ORF, have apologized for the incident.
An Austrian broadcaster that featured a segment where a chef fried an endangered species of fish has apologized following a series of complaints, the French news agency Agence France-Presse, or AFP, reported, via Barron's.
During the show, which came out last week, the chef whipped up a dish of potato salad with fish fritters, the report said.
But the broadcaster, ORF, soon received complaints from anglers after they discovered the fish used in the dish was the endangered Frauennerfling, an endangered species, AFP reported.
The Frauennerfling, also known as the "pigo" or by the scientific name "Rutilus pigus," is a fish native to Italy and Switzerland.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the fish as "in danger" since 2013.
"This is an extremely sad incident I have not come across in my career yet," Gregor Gravogl, the director of Lower Austria's fishery association, told AFP.
The chef involved in the incident said it occurred due to "a chain of unfortunate events" that began when he "asked a friend to get him some fish" after he was asked to appear on the show at the last minute.
"I trusted my friend who had a licence to fish a related species and thought that also includes this fish," he said, adding that he was "terribly sorry."
ORF also apologized for "cooking a fish which is protected all year round," claiming it'd had "different information," the report said.
The recipe is still available on the ORF website, though it now just says to include "fish fillet," but "preferably from a fisherman you trust."
Read the original article on Business Insider
