Shellfish deaths: North Yorkshire Council to call on Government for public inquiry and to ‘help secure financial compensation for fishing industry’

North Yorkshire Council has backed calls for the Government to convene a public inquiry “with powers to compel testimony and the release of all forms of evidence” to address concerns about shellfish deaths that have occurred on the Yorkshire and Cleveland coast since October 2021.

The decision to call for an inquiry was made at the newly-formed authority’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, May 17.

At the meeting, councillors failed to reach an agreement over amendments proposed by Conservative councillors seeking to amend the original motion put forward by Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors.

The failure to reach a compromise on the wording of the amendment led to the original motion – which was proposed by Cllr Neil Swannick whose Whitby division has been affected by the die-offs – being replaced by a motion with alternative wording which was proposed by Conservative Cllr George Jabbour.

Whilst calling for a public inquiry, Cllr Jabbour’s motion took a more cautious approach to the possibility that the die-offs could have been caused by dredging in the Tees estuary.

Cllr Jabbour’s motion also avoided direct criticism of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) which has ruled out further investigations.

However, the motion did call on the secretary of state, Thérèse Coffey, to support the local economy and to “help in securing financial compensation for the fishing industry”.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting, Cllr Neil Swannick said: “I can’t think that anybody would not now understand that this is a big issue for fishing communities on the northeast coast.

“The net result was that there will be pressure on the secretary of state to convene a public inquiry, which was the original aim of my motion.”

‘They need answers’

An independent crustacean mortality expert panel, set up by the Government to look into the deaths, has said that “it is about as likely as not that a pathogen new to UK waters – a potential disease or parasite – caused the unusual crab mortality”.

However, local crab and lobster fishermen in Whitby have said that their livelihoods are at risk due to significantly reduced catches which many blame on dredging in the Tees.

At the meeting on Wednesday, one of the most substantial disagreements arose over calls for the Government to re-examine whether contaminated sediment from dredging in the Tees could have contributed to the shellfish deaths, with one amendment by Cllr Jabbour stating that “the council notes the circulation of unsubstantiated claims about dredging”.

Cllr Swannick said he opposed the amended motion because he was “not happy to agree to those words to the detriment of the local community”.

But the Scarborough and Whitby Conservative Association said that opposition parties “were very keen to reference capital dredging in their original motion in the hopes it would tarnish the Teesside Freeport”.

Cllr Swannick said: “I think that a public inquiry should make up its own mind about what it wants to investigate and it certainly should investigate the work that is being done by the North East Fishing Collective.”

Cllr Swannick concluded that he was pleased “a motion” was passed calling for a public inquiry and added that “there were some positives in the Conservative group amendment”.

A spokesperson for the Conservative Association added: “The amended motion passed today enhances the original Labour-Liberal Democrat motion to not only call for a public enquiry in the manner they requested but also called on the Government to create and fund a dedicated task force to continually monitor the situation, investigate the impact of the die-off on the local community and compensate those affected.”

Speaking at the meeting, North Yorkshire Independent Cllr Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff, said: “For those communities for whom this has gone on for such a long time, it’s not very good.

“They need answers and proper detailed research, and it’s in everyone’s interest to establish the facts.”

She added: “The most important thing is that communities know we haven’t forgotten them and that we are on their side.”

Despite the increasing cross-party pressure for an inquiry, the approved motion does not guarantee that Dr Coffey, the secretary of state for the environment, will approve a public inquiry which could take years to conclude its findings.