Criminals ‘exploit crisis for shellfish harvesting’

ORGANISED CRIMINALS who send migrants on to beaches to illegally harvest shellfish could be filling a gap in the market caused by lockdown, a fisheries expert said.

Coastal authorities have reported gangs from around the country travelling to the seaside and flouting regulations set up to protect sea-life levels and food safety standards.

In Redcar near Middlesbrough, dozens of people were stopped from illegally harvesting shellfish on a beach where cockles were unsafe for human consumption.

Officers from North Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority found up to 40 people had harvested undersized crab and lobster on a commercial scale.

And on Wednesday, a family group was found to be picking cockles to use in a restaurant in the Northumbria Police area.

Cockles found in the Redcar and Cleveland area are not fit for human consumption and eating them could cause severe illness and be potentially fatal for children.

That is because the sea there has not been classified for bivalve consumption, so the bacteria levels in cockles is not known. David McCandless, chief officer at the North Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, said: “Our concern is that some of the individuals we have come across harvesting have connections with Chinese restaurants. The individuals come from various parts of the country, there were people connected to Wales and West Yorkshire (in Redcar).”

He asked the public to be vigilant about large numbers of people gathering to harvest shellfish on beaches.