The government's independent panel to investigate the cause of the deaths of thousands of crabs and other crustaceans along the Teesside coast has published its findings. A point of speculation before the report's publication was who the 13-member panel would be made up of and whether it would be biased.

After hearing evidence in October 2022 from government scientists as well as scientists commissioned by Teesside fishermen to research crab deaths a year previously, the parliamentary committee for the environment recommended to the Secretary of State, Thérèse Coffey MP, that an urgent review of available evidence should be undertaken to determine the cause of the deaths.

Read more: North Sea crustacean deaths: Report finds 'no clear single cause'

A panel to investigate was set up by Thérèse Coffey MP along with the government's Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir Patrick Vallance, and the Department for the Environment's (Defra) Chief Scientific Advisor Prof Gideon Henderson - who also chaired the panel.

The identities of its members weren't made public until the report's publication "to enable them to assess the scientific evidence without pressure or influence from interested parties."

With the report now published, the identities of its authors have also been revealed. They are: 

  • Dr Eileen Bresnan – Marine Scotland
  • Jan Brooke – Environmental consultant
  • Prof Keith Davidson – Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
  • Mike Dearnaley – HR Wallingford
  • Prof Mark Fitzsimons – Professor of Environmental Chemistry at University of Plymouth
  • Prof Alex Ford – Professor of Biology at University of Portsmouth
  • Prof Tamara Galloway OBE – Professor of Ecotoxicology at University of Exeter
  • Prof Crispin Halsall – Professor of Environmental Chemistry at University of Lancaster
  • Dr Tammy Horton – National Oceanography Centre (NOC)
  • Prof Mark Inall – Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
  • Prof Marian Scott – Professor of Environmental Statistics at University of Glasgow
  • Dr David Wilcockson – Aberystwyth University 

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The panel's report has more or less ruled out the possibility of capital dredging, pyridine or an algal bloom as being responsible for causing the mass deaths of sea life since late 2021.

During a briefing about the panel's report to journalists one of its authors, Dr Tammy Horton, said that "we've come up with more questions than answers."

Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey released a statement in which she said that she "will consider carefully if further analysis by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) can ascertain conclusively the cause of this unusual mortality."