24 Sep 2024
The below is an abridged version of a report in The Conversation, by Prof. Alex Ford, Prof. Crispin Halsall and Prof. Mark Fitzsimons In October 2021, thousands of dead and dying crabs and lobsters washed up along 70km of coastline in north-east England. This mass-mortality event coincided with the redevelopment of one of the UK’s largest ports […]
04 Apr 2023
Thousands of tonnes of dead shellfish were washed up on the shore from the North Sea on Teesside and the Yorkshire coast in October 2021. So far there has been no clear explanation for the deaths, but an independent panel appointed by Defra indicated in January that the probable cause was “a novel pathogen”. […]
21 Mar 2023
The MP for Middlesbrough, Andy McDonald, posed a question to the Defra Environment Minister regarding the recent conclusions of the Expert Panel on crustacean deaths in the North East of England. Mr McDonald said: ‘ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report by the Chief Executive of […]
14 Feb 2023
The government will not carry out further investigations into what killed thousands of shellfish off England’s North East and North Yorkshire coast. Since late-2021, thousands of marine life, including crabs, have washed up between Hartlepool and Whitby. We reported last week that the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee wrote to Environment Secretary […]
07 Feb 2023
The Chair of the Commons EFRA Committee has written to Therese Coffey, Defra Secretary of State, following the recent publication of the independent Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel’s report on the mass die-off on the north east coast of England. Below are some extracts from the letter: The Committee notes in the letter that the Minister […]
22 Jan 2023
The panel of independent experts set up to assess the cause of dead and dying crabs washed up on shores from October 2021 have published their findings. The panel, made up of experts from academia and industry, was chaired by Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser Gideon Henderson with input from the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir […]
17 Jan 2023
A popular beach has lost its coveted Blue Flag status due to a decline in bathing water quality. Saltburn was the only beach between Whitby and Sunderland to be given the internationally recognised certification in 2022, the BBC reported. However, its bathing water quality, based on Environment Agency samples, has fallen from “excellent” to “good”. […]
17 Jan 2023
Dredging at freeport sites across the UK should be paused while a mass die-off of marine life is investigated, ministers have been told. MPs used a Commons questions session to express further concerns over the deaths of thousands of crabs and lobsters washed up on North Sea beaches, the Evening Standard reported. The Government said it […]
