Fish and shellfish catches on Yorkshire Coast are being 'decimated'
Whitby's Commercial Fishing Association says it's a concerning time for inshore fishermen
Inshore fishermen in Scarborough and Whitby say their catches are being decimated by whatever is killing fish and crabs in the sea just off the coast.
The North East Fishing Collective says it rejects theories from agencies including Defra that it is caused by algae.
Whitby's Commercial Fishing Association says its members are seeing their hauls down by up to 90 per cent.
The Whitby Commercial Fishing Association said in a report:
"We are a collective of commercial fishing associations, angling societies, conservationists and stakeholders along the Northeast coast. Over 50 concerned members were present at our most recent meeting on the 5th February. We 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.
"Our collective rejects DEFRA’s algal bloom theory as “utter rubbish”. Today we release an independent investigation into the mass mortality events affecting our coastline showing the real reasons why we have been experiencing mass mortalities.
"Algal blooms do not occur naturally in our coastal waters in October. The temperatures are far too low. An algal bloom would not impact the large area we have experienced death nor would it last for this long. We are still receiving reports of dead crabs and lobster as recently as 2nd and 3rd February (Saltburn and Maske). The only shred of evidence DEFRA have supplied to back up their false claims are satellite images. All the samples have found no presence of algae nor any toxins produced by harmful algal blooms."
You can read the Fishing Association's full report here.
Joe Redfern, Secretary of Whitby Commercial Fishing Association, added:
"I don't think it's a disease and they haven't found any known diseases in any of the samples that have been taken, so it won't pass on from crab-to-crab it's more come out of the Tees port as dangerous chemicals have sort of spread along the coast.
"The theory is that algal bloom and the fishing industry really rejects that as a plausible cause. We don't have warm enough oceans there, we're still getting crabs and lobsters washing up on the beaches today and there's no way an algal bloom would have that longevity.
"It's a worrying time. People are really deeply concerned for the future of their own livelihoods and future of this fishing industry along this coast. Everyone is hoping that come summer and the start of next season it'll bounce back and hopefully the grounds and habitats that we have are resilient enough for that to happen.
"We hope that Defra will still be continuing investigations as well. We've tried to open up dialogue with the agencies and it's not gone too well so far so we're hoping to build on that. At the end of the day all the fishermen are out there on the sea and have got the best experience in terms of local knowledge."
They have started a Just Giving page to fund more research into the problem.
A Defra spokesperson said:
“Our sampling established that no pyridine was present in the water or sediment samples we collected but was detected in crab tissue from both impacted areas and non-impacted areas elsewhere in the country. As such, any levels detected in crab tissue are likely to be linked to biological processes and not necessarily from the environment.
“Significant testing and modelling has ruled out a number of potential causes including chemical pollution, sewage, animal disease or dredging. The most likely cause of the deaths seems to be a naturally occurring, harmful algal bloom.”
The latest update of Defra's investigation can be found here.
The Defra report showed:
Dredging
• A review of dredging activity and water samples found no evidence of a link between the disposal of dredged sediment and the deaths.
• The sampling of sediment that has been licenced by the MMO for disposal to the designated sites off the Tees confirmed that no chemical determinants exceeded concentrations (‘Action Levels’) that would be harmful to marine life.
• A further review of dredging, disposal activity and water samples found no evidence of a link between the disposal of dredged sediment and the mass crustacean deaths.
Algal bloom
• Satellite data from two online platforms show that an algal bloom occurred along the coastal area in question from 20 to 26 September at high values, but persisting until 1 October, a week prior to the onset of the mortality event.
• The bloom has unusually high values of chlorophyll (>40 mg/l) for the time of year, and sea temperatures were higher than normal.
• These conditions are conducive to the formation of a particular species of large biomass Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) called Karenia mikimotoi.
• Estimates of the effect such a bloom could have on reducing oxygen levels (as the microbial breakdown of dead bloom consumes oxygen) indicate that they could be locally significant and cause mortality directly under the bloom areas.