The federal government has been urged to halt dredging exercise on the River Tees instantly as fishermen launch a authorized bid to guard native sea life.
Solicitors Leigh Day have despatched a pre-action letter to the Marine Administration Organisation (MMO) urging them to take instant motion to stop additional irreparable hurt to the fishing trade.
The legislation agency is appearing on behalf of Hartlepool fisherman Stan Rennie, who has labored within the city his entire life and is a champion of sustainability and defending the North East shoreline. Nonetheless, he believes an “extinction episode” is going on within the North Sea and says the area has been forgotten by the Authorities.
A mass die-off noticed big numbers of crustaceans wash up on Teesside’s shores final October, with locals reporting comparable incidents ever since. Half of the Hartlepool fishing fleet at the moment are out of enterprise and the trade has subsequently been hit by job losses.
Defra says it is because of an algal bloom, however some teachers imagine the trigger to be dredging that’s unearthed pyridine. That ruling is now being assessed by an impartial knowledgeable panel.
PD Ports, which manages the River Tees, says it carries out upkeep dredging all 12 months spherical however is to not blame. The authority is believed to allow the disposal of 243,842 tonnes of dredged materials from the Tees and 42,128 from Hartlepool at Tees Bay per 12 months. It has additionally acquired permission to dispose dredged materials whereas developing a brand new quay on the South Financial institution within the Tees estuary.
Final month the EFRA parliamentary committee wrote to ministers with a collection of suggestions together with evaluations of dredging exercise, evaluations of licence situations, the ‘minimising’ of dredging till investigations are full, and new dredging assessments.
However the British Ports Affiliation says sure conclusions reached within the paper aren’t “credible and even reflective of the outcomes discovered by the researcher”, and that dredging shouldn’t be halted.
In its letter to the MMO, Leigh Jones says fishermen are involved that obvious breaches of dredging licences have been noticed and reported however no motion seems to have been taken.
It provides that “additional dredging exercise dangers inflicting additional irreparable hurt” and urged the MMO to reply inside 5 days. Nonetheless, that deadline has handed and the MMO has not responded.
A spokeswoman for the general public physique informed the D&S: “The Marine Administration Organisation (MMO) acquired a pre-action protocol letter from Leigh Day Solicitors, dated 16 December 2022. We’re contemplating the contents and can reply sooner or later.”
