The Report is
here.
The membership consisted of:
Gideon Henderson – Defra Chief Scientific Adviser
Eileen Bresnan – Marine Scotland
Jan Brooke – Environmental consultant
Keith Davidson – Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
Mike Dearnaley – HR Wallingford
Mark Fitzsimons – University of Plymouth
Alex Ford – University of Portsmouth
Tamara Galloway – University of Exeter
Crispin Halsall – University of Lancaster
Tammy Horton – National Oceanography Centre (NOC)
Mark Inall – Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
Marian Scott – University of Glasgow
David Wilcockson – Aberystwyth University
The Panel considered the following possibilities for the cause of crustacean mortality:
Disease or Parasite.
Chemical Toxicity from land sources and including Pyridine.
Harmful Algal Bloom
Capital Dredging - to create a new channel or berth.
Maintenance Dredging - for the continued operation of the port.
They concluded that the most probable cause of mortality was disease or parasite, which was rated as likely as not (33 to 66% probability)
Chemical Toxicity was rated as very unlikely (<10% probability)
HAB was unlikely (<33% probability)
Capital Dredging was exceptionally unlikely (<1% probability) and no capital dredging was carried out before the initial mortality event.
Maintenance Dredging was rated as very unlikely (<10% probability) and no Pyridine was found whatsoever during ongoing monitoring at the time by York University.