Freeports victory as ‘crab apocalypse’ study rejects Labour’s claims
CLAIMS by Labour that building a freeport in the North East caused thousands of crabs and lobsters to die have been dismissed by a scientific report.
Building freeports is a key government post-Brexit-strategy to create jobs and growth.
But critics from Labour claimed that dredging the mouth of the Tees in the North East led to an environmental disaster in 2021 – unleashing decades old toxic chemicals into the mud.
Locals reported the ‘apocalyptic’ sight of hordes of crabs twitching in death spasms on beaches nearby.
Confusion over what caused the deaths was not helped by an initial Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs report which suggested an ‘algal bloom’ off the coast may have killed the crabs. Fishermen commissioned an independent scientific report which blamed pyridine, a chemical produced in steelmaking, that is highly toxic to crabs.
The report was used by Labour as evidence that freeports – which allow some environmental regulations to be suspended – were putting the environment at risk. Eight freeports have been set up in England including in Liverpool, Plymouth and Hull.
Now a new analysis from Defra suggests an as-yet unknown ‘parasite or pathogen’, possibly a viral or bacterial infection, was the culprit behind the crab deaths.
This report, with input from the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, found that it was unlikely the die-off was caused by a harmful algal bloom.
It also said it was ‘ very unlikely’ that ‘pyridine or another toxic pollutant caused the crab deaths’. It added: ‘ Measurements of seawater by the Environment Agency and York University could not detect pyridine.
‘It is about as likely as not that a pathogen new to UK waters – a potential disease or parasite – caused the unusual crab mortality. There are pathogens known to cause similar symptoms to those observed in the North East and these pathogens have caused declines in crustacean populations around the world.’
In 1999, off Long Island Sound in the US, an estimated 11million lobsters died from a bacterial infection and the Defra report said that a similar infection or a previously unknown virus was the possible cause.
It added: ‘Although there is no direct evidence of a novel pathogen, it would explain the key observations including mortality over a sustained period and along the 70km of coastline from Hartlepool to Whitby, the unusual twitching of dying crabs and the deaths being predominantly crabs rather than other species.’
The report said it was also ‘possible that a combination of factors led to the unusual mortality, rather than one of the factors the panel considered’.
Simon Clarke, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, accused Labour of spreading ‘conspiracy theories’ to sabotage the freeport project.
He said: ‘ For months now, Labour politicians have been jumping on every conspiracy theory that moves in the despicable hope of sabotaging jobs and livelihoods in Teesside.’
Labour hit back by saying that Mr Clarke and other Tories had previously claimed the deaths were due to an algal bloom.
Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, said: ‘We now know that the algal bloom theory which the Prime Minister, ministers, Tory MPs and the Tees Valley mayor have hidden behind is an unlikely cause for the mass deaths.
‘Just think of the time they could have saved – and anxieties they could have allayed – if they agreed to carry out more testing and investigations from the outset.’
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, who has been criticised for promoting the Teesside freeport, said ‘ it is clear’ dredging the freeport was not to blame for the crab deaths which he called a ‘natural disaster’.
He added: ‘When I was elected, I promised former steelworkers who worked on that site that I would create a thriving industry of the future with thousands of good- quality local jobs for local people.
‘Today, backed by the science, we can look every single one of them in the eye and say the work we are doing, in an area that means so much to so many people, is safe and is of the highest possible standard.’
‘Unlikely die-off was algal bloom’