MPs to probe shellfish deaths off North East and Yorkshire coasts

A parliamentary committee will hold a fresh probe into the deaths of shellfish off the North East and Yorkshire coastlines.

The Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee will hold a hearing on 25 October into the vast number of crabs, lobsters and other marine life that has been washed up on shores since October 2021.

A government review in 2021 put the deaths down to a naturally-occurring 'algal bloom', saying chemical pollutants were unlikely to be the cause.

However, independent research, commissioned by members of the fishing community and carried out by scientists at Newcastle, Durham, Hull and York universities found that the deaths are more consistent with industrial toxins than by natural algal toxins.

They studied levels of pyridine, a chemical once used in steelmaking.

The research found that healthy crabs, which were exposed to levels of pyridine of less than 25% of that detected in specimens in Saltburn, died within six hours.

In response, the Government said it welcomed the report and would be working with the universities on the issue - but said its earlier research "found no evidence" to suggest dredging was a likely cause.

Scarborough and Whitby MP Sir Robert Goodwill, who is chairman of the EFRA Committee, said: “We need to establish what is causing these disturbing events. 

“They have implications for coastal communities in North Yorkshire and Teesside – not least, of course, those engaged in or dependent on the fishing industry. But there could also be wider environmental and economic implications with lessons to be learned.”

The exact time and location of the hearing is yet to be confirmed.

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