Around October 2021 it was noted the vast number of shellfish deaths found on the coast between Teesside and Robin Hoods Bay. The government launched an “investigation” into the reported incident. In February 2022, a government press release announced that the mass death was caused by an “algal bloom” – a rapid increase in the population of algae that can release toxins into the water and affect other wildlife. Shortly after the press release was published, another mass death of crabs and lobsters was reported on the same coastline. While an algal bloom in October is implausible, an algal bloom in February is considered impossible. In May, there was another mass stranding of crabs and lobsters on the same beaches with divers reporting the seabed immediately south of the River Tees as a “dead zone” with even the seaweed dying.

A report was published by DEFRA in May, concluding that no single consistent causative factor was found, although there was a harmful algal bloom coinciding with the timings of the original incident; the investigation was closed in March 2022. This “conclusion” is disputed by local fisherman, suggesting that pyridine could be a possible cause since the algal bloom theory did not totally fit the marine biology findings, and so were crowdfunding their own independent report by Tim Deere Jones. The DEFRA work has been passed to Cefas to investigate some aspects further.

The local MP for Scarborough and Whitby asked the Ministry for Fishing to investigate further, and their response is available here. This is an open issue with the UK Government currently having no definitive answer, with the Tees being seen as an important Freeport “experiment”.

Newcastle, York and Hull universities have subsequently performed research into the effect of pyridine on crabs, and the water conditions around the Tees. The conclusions show the devastating impact that pyridine has on shellfish. They have subsequently been invited before the Environment Select Committee in London.