Fishermen have told of their terror at Teesworks dredging going ahead next year after mass sea life die-offs threatened their livelihoods.
MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee heard from Teesside and North Yorkshire fishermen and scientists in an extraordinary meeting on the sea life crisis over the past year.
Locals claim the North Sea is experiencing an ‘extinction episode’ and say dredging could be the ‘final nail in the coffin’ for the industry.
A mass die-off saw huge numbers of crustaceans wash up on Teesside’s shores last October, with locals reporting similar incidents ever since.
Read more: North East sea life deaths LIVE - Fishermen debate in Parliament
DEFRA has ruled it is due to an algal bloom, but some academics believe the cause to be dredging that’s unearthed pyridine. PD Ports, the authority managing the River Tees, says it carries out maintenance dredging all year round but is not to blame.
Hartlepool fisherman Stan Rennie delivered an impassioned testimony to MPs at the meeting on Tuesday, saying he believes an “extinction episode” is happening in the North Sea and stated the North East has been forgotten by the Government.
"My catches are down 80% lobsters,” he said, "there's nothing in the pots."
Whitby Commercial Fishing Association secretary Joe Redfern told of the impact the crisis is having on people’s lives. He added: "A lot of people just felt there's been lack of support, lack of trust, hopelessness in the industry.
And Mr Rennie said half of the Hartlepool fishing fleet were out of business and the industry had subsequently been hit by job losses. The fisherman added that the lobster catch was down 50%, and velvet and brown crabs were down 100%.
Mr Rennie’s working days have doubled in length and he is now traveling a further 90 minutes per day to get out of the die-off zone to fish as he doesn’t want to sell something he wouldn’t eat.
"We've got a proud heritage,” he said. “We are proud people in the North East. We fight to the last."
Mr Redfern told MPs: "The fishing community is completely terrified that if this next round of dredging goes ahead, there's going to be nothing left and that's going to be the complete nail in the coffin.”
Read more: Mysterious killer continues to wipe out North East sea life
The committee also heard from Dr Gary Caldwell, one of the authors of a recent independent report into the mass die-offs, which concluded “pyridine in seawater is highly toxic to crabs even at low levels."
The panel also heard from agencies and academics with opposing views on the cause of the mass deaths.
PD Ports’ director Jerry Hopkinson said a dredging machine had been brought in after a slippage, but said it is not to blame.
Mr Hopkinson said: “It’s coincidental that the dredger arrived when these crustacean mortalities occurred. Frankly, I think we are looking in the wrong direction.
"I absolutely get the issues that these guys have faced. I remember a guy called Pinky saying to me, ‘when was the last time you got paid? Because I wasn't paid last month or the month before’.
"There's no satisfaction in listening to a man say that to you. You can't help but question your moral compass.”
Teesworks says it did not start dredging until September 2022 and is currently depositing the sediment on land, with no sea disposal until 2023.
A spokesperson for South Tees Development Corporation said: “We continue to follow all legal standards and requirements as is required. The Tees Valley Mayor continues to push Government for financial support those fishermen whose livelihoods have been affected by this issue.”
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