Yorkshire Coast fishermen stage protest
They've demanded more investigation from Defra, to ascertain what's causing fish to die in the North Sea.
Fishing crews have staged a protest near a site they believe is killing marine life and "decimating" their livelihoods by creating a "dead zone" in the North Sea.
This morning, boats from Scarborough, Whitby, Redcar and Hartlepool sailed to South Gare, near the mouth of the River Tees, to demand a new investigation into the mass deaths of crabs and lobsters in the area.
Around 30 vessels let off flares and displayed flags and banners during the protest on Thursday morning, while more demonstrators gathered on land.
A Government investigation previously concluded a harmful algal bloom was the most likely explanation for the mass deaths of crustaceans last October, which saw large numbers of crabs and lobsters wash up on the region's beaches.
But fisherman have refuted that theory and say they believe the blame lies with 250,000 tonnes of dredged sediment in the River Tees.
Campaigners claim the sediment was dredged and dumped two-and-a-half miles offshore by the vessel UKD ORCA last year.
They claim that a subsequent lobster and crab die-off is currently happening and coincides with dredging at this same location.
With a further two million tonnes of sediment to be dumped imminently at the same spoil site, the fishing crews say they have "grave concerns that our already dying inshore waters will receive a final and fatal blow which could last for decades and impact other industries including tourism".
James Cole, of the Whitby Commercial Fishing Association, told the PA news agency:
"Defra are saying it's an algal bloom but it's still reoccurring, and Government agencies have just closed the book on it.
"We want them to properly investigate to get to the bottom of this because from November last year we're just on a downward spiral, we've had a terrible winter.
"The price of fuel's gone through the roof, lobster prices have crashed, we can't afford to go on like this.
"Our environment's getting damaged and we want some truth."
Joe Redfern, co-founder of Whitby Lobster Hatchery, marine biologist and chairman of the Whitby Commercial Fishing Association, said:
"We are trying to show our extreme concern for what's going on around the coastline - wash-ups, deaths, for months now.
"We're really concerned that our generational fisherman's heritage and way of life is under threat.
"We're demanding Defra reopen the case to investigate, clearly and openly, what the situation is.
"Catch rates have completely dropped, people are struggling to pay their bills - with the cost-of-living crisis, it's a double whammy. It's having a massive impact on morale and wellbeing."
A Defra spokesperson said:
"We are monitoring recent wash-ups at South Gare and the Tees area. Small scale wash-ups can occur naturally due to seasonality and weather conditions and we are working closely with partner agencies to support the monitoring and recovery of stocks.
"We note that there are reports of poor catches and we are working with the industry and partner agencies to monitor this and are communicating regularly with the fishing community."
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