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A TV chef fried fish on the endangered-species list on an Austrian show.
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The IUCN has listed the Frauennerfling, or pygo, as “endangered” since 2013.
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The chef and the broadcaster, ORF, apologized for the incident.
An Austrian broadcaster that featured a segment in which a chef fried an endangered species of fish has apologized following a series of complaints, French news agency Agence France-Presse, or AFP, reported via Barron’s.
On the show, which aired last week, the chef prepared a dish of potato salad with fish fritters, the report said.
But the broadcaster, ORF, received complaints from fishermen after they discovered that the fish used in the dish was the endangered Frauennerfling, an endangered species, AFP reported.
Frauennerfling, also known as “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 “endangered” since 2013.
“It’s a very sad incident that I’ve never seen in my career,” Gregor Gravogl, the director of Lower Austria’s fisheries association, told AFP.
The chef involved in the incident said it happened because of “a chain of unfortunate events” that began when he “asked a friend to get him some fish” after he was asked to leave the show at the last minute.
“I trusted my friend who had a license to fish a related species and thought this fish was also included,” he said, adding that he was “deeply sorry.”
ORF also apologized for “cooking protected fish all year round,” saying it had “various information,” the report said.
The recipe is still available on the ORF website, although it only says to include “fish fillet,” but “preferably from a fisherman you trust.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
