In the show broadcast last week, a chef shared his Lent-friendly recipe, featuring fish fritters and a roux-based potato salad on the side.
But fishermen were left gasping for air when they discovered that the Frauennerfling fish -- a red-listed endangered species in Austria since 2002 on the brink of extinction -- had ended up in the frying pan.
Several fishermen then alerted an Austrian fishery association.
"We filed a complaint against an unknown individual earlier this week" for fishing an endangered species native to the Danube river and nearby watercourses, Gregor Gravogl, director of Lower Austria's fishery association, told AFP on Friday.
The fish -- which goes by the scientific name of rutilus pigus -- has been driven to the brink of extinction in the wild due to rising water temperatures and construction alongside the Danube river, Gravogl said.
"This is an extremely sad incident I have not come across in my career yet," he added.
Earlier this week, Austria's public broadcaster apologised for "cooking a fish which is protected all year round", adding that "different information" was available to them.
The chef of an upscale restaurant said he was "terribly sorry" for what had happened, adding that he had "asked a friend to get him some fish" after being asked to make a last-minute appearance on the show.
"It was a chain of unfortunate events, because I trusted my friend who had a licence to fish a related species and thought that also includes this fish," he told AFP by telephone.
Both have since had sleepless nights, with the chef worrying that his restaurant situated in a national park could suffer severe losses.
The recipe can still be accessed online, but merely specifies that the piece of fish fillet to be used should be "from a fisherman you trust".
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