Austria’s public broadcaster ORF has been forced to apologize after it caused uproar and anger among fishermen for showing them cooking a protected species of fish on a cookery show.

After being informed by viewers who were aware of the law, the television management admitted a few days later the error but attributing it to the chef who was invited to cook on the popular television program.

“I am terribly saddened by what happened“, the chef who works in a restaurant in Lower Austria with a panoramic view of the Danube, explained today to AFP. As he said, he asked a friend at the last minute to bring him a fish to prepare his recipe in front of the cameras.

His supplier thought that particular species of fish, the Danube plaice, was available for fishing. In fact, however, this fish has been protected since 2002 because it is very vulnerable to rising freshwater temperatures. The reason for the error was that the supplier confused the name of the fish with another species, which is not endangered.

“He is sick to his stomach because of this story, he can’t sleep“, assured the restaurateur friend.

The area’s fishermen’s association was not satisfied with the explanations and filed a lawsuit earlier this week, a spokesman for the area, Gregor Grafogel, said today.