Rapid decline of Thames Estuary fisheries

SIR – Fishermen and residents are seeing the decline of crab and shrimp in the Thames (Letters, August 8). Yet across the Channel, Belgian and Dutch vessels are fishing commercially for shrimp daily along their coasts.

There a few possible factors at play in this decline. Our east coast is heavily dredged for commercial aggregates; the Thames has undergone concentrated dredging to create access to a new port. Additionally, a vast number of wind farms have been built. These activities alter the sea bed.

The third factor is the change in sewerage systems. Not long ago, vessels would leave London twice a day, taking waste out to sea and dumping it in an area called Barrow Deep. The sea bed was alive with life; worms and mixed crustaceans were abundant, as were the fish that fed on them. Within a very short time of stopping this practice, the sea bed changed. It is now barren.

George Eustice, the fisheries minister, is on record saying that, according to the Environment Agency, there is nothing amiss. Yet fishing activity for fin fish is at an all-time low. What is going on? Paul Gilson

Vice Chairman, SE committee of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations Leigh-on-sea, Essex