Last week we covered the news of the completed investigation by Defra and partner agencies of the cause of dead crabs and lobsters which were found washed up on the North East coast between October and December 2021. Following significant testing and modelling to rule out possible causes, Defra and partner agencies consider that the deaths of the crabs and lobsters potentially resulted from a naturally occurring harmful algal bloom.

Since last week, there has been considerable coverage of the story: the Defra and agencies report reviewed satellite date showing an algal bloom along the coastal area in late September 2021, concluding it is “unlikely that chemical pollution, sewage or infectious aquatic animal diseases were the cause of the deaths”. The agency also said there was no evidence linking recent reports of dead seals, the mystery dog illness causing sickness and diarrhoea following walks along the coast in January, or the dead sea birds washing up in their hundreds in October.

However, the North East Fishing collective, a group of commercial fishing associations, angling societies, conservationists and stakeholders along the north-east coast of England, have labelled the explanation as “utter rubbish”. The group say they have all been “dramatically impacted by the recent events on the east coast. Our incomes have been slashed, our livelihoods under threat and our environments eroded.”

In another piece in the Guardian, it stated that ‘four months on, crab and lobster fishers from Hartlepool to Scarborough report that their catches are a tenth of what they would normally expect at this time of year. This is a brutal blow to the coastline that is home to the largest lobster and brown crab fishery in Europe. More than 3,000 tonnes of shellfish have landed in the three main ports of Bridlington, Scarborough and Whitby, Yorkshire.

There has been other widespread coverage on the update, including BBC Tees, Hartlepool Mail, Sunderland Echo, and The Northern Echo. The Yorkshire Post also noted that ‘while the chemical pyridine was initially identified in crab from impacted areas, further investigations by the Environment Agency established that pyridine was not present in water and surface sediment samples collected off the Tees, and that pyridine is found in crabs taken from non-impacted areas. As such, the presence of pyridine in crab is likely to be linked to biological processes. Results from cyanide analysis were below the detection limit of the test. Many of the reports encourage the public to continue report any incidents of concern to the EA helpline.

The Defra press release on the investigation can be found here.