Is the freeport to blame for loss of marine life in Teesside?

The deaths of thousands of crabs on the beaches of Teesside and North Yorkshire has created bitter divisions between the fishing industry and the government.

With so much disagreement over the cause, the issue has “set off a row that shows little sign of dying off”, said the BBC. It has even raised doubts over “the future of a key part of the government’s levelling up agenda”.

What has happened?

In October 2021, crabs and lobsters began washing up dead on the beaches in the region. The beaches were “piled with hundreds of thousands of dead and dying crabs and lobster”, said The Times, with “some still twitching in agony”.

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With their catches plummeting, the fishing industry has called for financial support from the government to “save” the North East fleet in the face of the huge losses.

Adrian Noble, who has been catching crabs and lobsters for 40 years, told the BBC that the situation was “the death knell for the North East coast” and warned that the industry would “go bankrupt”.

The effects of the die-off were also “cascading up the food chain”, said The Guardian, with seal rescue volunteers reporting “emaciated seal pups”, which would normally scavenge seabeds for crustaceans, washing ashore.

What does the government say is the cause?

An investigation by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) found no single, consistent factor behind the deaths. However, it said the “most likely cause” was a “naturally occurring algal bloom”.

The report also insisted that it was unlikely that chemical pollution had caused the deaths, despite the fact that the dead crabs contained extremely high levels of a toxic chemical, pyridine.

What does the fishing industry say is the cause?

The government’s finding prompted “months of fury” from the fishing industry across Teesside and North Yorkshire, which believes that dredging on the River Tees had disturbed pyridine, a chemical once used in steel-making, said ITV News.

It points to the findings of independent researchers that industrial toxins were the “most likely” cause of the mass die-off. Researchers said chemicals released by dredging operations linked to the development of the government’s flagship freeport at the mouth of the Tees were responsible for the deaths.

The freeport is a key part of the government’s levelling-up agenda. Therefore, government scientists, ministers, and the Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, have stuck to their guns insisting that the algal bloom was still the probable cause.

Simon Clarke, a local Conservative MP and the former levelling-up secretary, went on the attack. Writing in The Times, he dismissed the concerns of the fishing industry, Labour and Green politicians, describing them as an “anti-growth coalition” who couldn’t accept that Conservatives are “restoring pride, identity and purpose” to the area.

What will happen next?

In the face of widespread derision of the government’s original findings, Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, commissioned an independent panel of scientists who are examining whether the deaths are down to nature or industrial poison.

However, wrote Jenni Russell in The Times, “there has been no openness” from the panel, and Defra “refused to tell me who was on it, its remit” and “who it was hearing from”. The panel could report as soon as next week.

A Labour councillor has “grilled” the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) boss about what his plan B will be “if pyridine is linked to the mass crustacean die-off”, reported Teesside Live.

“What would happen if the report comes out next week and directly links the crustacean deaths to pyridine,” asked Steve Nelson, who sits on Stockton Council. “I am just wondering what happens next in that eventuality. It’s quite possible the expert panel links the deaths.”

In response, TVCA chief executive Julie Gilhespie said: “If the government guidance says we shouldn’t be doing it, we won’t do it.”