Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the independent report entitled Assessment of unusual crustacean mortality in the north-east of England in 2021 and 2022, published on 20 January 2023, whether her Department is taking steps to identify the novel pathogen cited as the cause of the level of mortality; and if she will make a statement.

The independent panel considered a wide range of possible causes for the deaths. The panel considered a novel pathogen to be the most likely cause of mortality, despite no direct evidence for such a pathogen. I am now considering carefully if further analysis by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) can ascertain conclusively the cause of this unusual mortality.