NORTH East fishermen are still feeling the affects of the marine life crisis nearly a year after their proud industry was nearly wiped out – and they feel more should be done to help them.
The rapid decrease in sea life coincided with “apocalyptic” piles of dead crustaceans washing up along the coastline and a mystery dog illness, which was first reported in October last year, leading to a growing discontent among the fishing industry.
Read more: Hundreds gather on Redcar beach to protest against pollution
A report from DEFRA found that a “naturally occurring harmful algal bloom” was the cause of the deaths last year, despite a range of other possibilities and theories being suggested.
Ten months on from the first issues being reported, fishermen are still reporting catch levels significantly below the levels they were seeing last summer.
The fishermen were speaking at a protest that took place along North East beaches yesterday, as hundreds joined the gathering to raise awareness of the crisis, as well as concerns over the amount of pollution being released into the sea.
Speaking to The Northern Echo, one of the fishermen said: "Nobody is bothered, we've just been forgotten about.
"Nobody wants to take responsibility for what has happened and we are the ones that have to suffer as a consequence of that.
"I don't know if it will ever get better - especially with the price of everything that we're seeing at the moment, it's just going to be one thing after another.
"Someone needs to do something quickly – whilst the Government carries on messing about choosing the next leader, we are the ones that have to suffer in silence and deal with the issues of real life.
“We’re having to rely on kids in t-shirts here to get our message across – it’s outrageous really.”
Sally Bunce, from campaign group Reclaim Our Sea, organised the protest yesterday.
She said: “We can’t expect to dump waste in the sea and not expect an impact.
"There was a mass die off of our wildlife in the sea, which happened October. If there is another one, it could be catastrophic. There needs to be more studies and needs to be a change."
Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald said: “On Teesside, we have had all kinds of wildlife being decimated.
“We don’t have the right answers at the moment – but what we can’t do is let the North Sea and Tees Bay die off.”
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