Liz Truss has admitted she “would need to look into the issue” of sea life deaths off the North East coast during an interview on BBC Radio Tees.
The Prime Minister was being interviewed on BBC Radio Tees’ breakfast show when was asked by host Amy Oakden whether she would commit to an investigation into sea life deaths off the North East coast.
But Truss was forced to admit that she hadn’t looked into the issue which has been ongoing for the last year.
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In the exchange the new PM said: “I would need to look into that issue to be honest” when asked whether she would commit to an investigation.
Host Amy Oakden responded, “You haven’t already then?” to which Truss was forced to reply: “No, I haven’t.”
She added: “I know the environment agency are looking at the issues but I will certainly be raising that with the environment secretary.”
Just last week (September 22) new pictures revealed the shocking extend of dead marine life on Teesside beaches.
In May a report into mass crab and lobster mortalities along the Teesside and North Yorkshire coast maintained that a harmful algal bloom was the most likely cause.
Hundreds of dead and dying crabs and lobsters were washed ashore in unusually high numbers along parts of the north-east coast of England starting between October and December last year, with the mass devastation continuing more recently.
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A range of potential causes of the mass die-offs including licensed dredging activity, chemical contamination, presence of algal blooms and aquatic animal disease were investigated – but no single, consistent causative factor was identified.
However, a harmful algal bloom present in the area was identified as of significance and the most likely cause.
Yet activists and local fishermen continue to dispute the official explanation behind the mortality.
Eleven months on from the first issues being reported, fishermen are still reporting catch levels significantly below the levels they were seeing last summer.
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