Over the last two years, a panel of experts investigating the unexplained deaths of thousands of crabs and lobsters along England’s coast has failed to identify a single clear cause.
In October 2021, dead and dying crabs and lobsters began washing up on beaches in the Teesside region of northeast England, attracting national attention as local fishing communities suffered and some feared a mass poisoning linked to the area’s industrial past.
Fishing groups said decades-old toxic chemicals could have been released by dredging activity and questioned the environment department’s initial investigation, which suggested the deaths were likely caused by a natural but devastating algal bloom.
A panel of independent experts convened by the British government said in a long-awaited report that both theories were unlikely, and that it had been ‘unable to identify a clear and convincing single cause’ for the deaths.
Post Your Comments