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

To ask His Majesty's Government why the expert panel appointed to investigate the cause of mass marine deaths between the River Tees and the River Esk did not undertake its own research into the deaths; and why it only met three times.

The Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel (CMEP) were asked to review all the available evidence of the unusual crustacean mortality event in the north-east of England (between September and December 2021) using all relevant available data at the time of their investigation. The CMEP were given access to a variety of data (including imagery, monitoring surveys, logs; a full list of the evidence used in the CMEP report has been published alongside the report) and they reviewed published data on similar events from other locations globally. Using this evidence the CMEP provided an independent scientific assessment of the possible causes of the mass crustacean mortality incident. The remit of the CMEP did not include the collection of additional data.

The panel were asked to conduct and complete their work in a timely fashion. The full CMEP met on three occasions between December 2022 and January 2023, with subgroups meeting to analyse aspects of the issue between meetings.