Poole Harbour oil spill: Shellfish sales warning issued

Shellfish producers in and around Poole Harbour have been advised to halt sales because of possible contamination from oil.

About 200 barrels of reservoir fluid leaked from a pipeline at an onshore oil field in Dorset on Sunday.

Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) said the clean-up operation had so far collected 1.5 tonnes of oil sediment.

The pipeline's owners, Perenco, said approximately 60% of the estimated discharged oil had been recovered.

It said the location of the leak had been identified but the cause was still being investigated.

The company stated that the pipeline had been thoroughly inspected fewer than 10 months ago.

PHC, which oversees activities in the harbour, said shellfish harvested there since Sunday should not be sold.

It said the advice would remain in place until further notice.

The commissioners again urged people to avoid recreational activities in the harbour, including bathing.

They said the clean-up operation had also recovered 14,000 litres (3,000 gallons) of oil-water mix.

Earlier, a conservation charity described the leak as a "massive disaster" for seahorses in the UK.

The Seahorse Trust said the harbour was home to both spiny and short-snouted seahorses - the only two types found on UK shores.

Executive director Neil Garrick-Maidment said: "There is an east-west drift with the current so, if the oil is coming out of Poole Harbour, it is going to drift west into Studland Bay, which is internationally the most important site for spiny seahorses for breeding.

"We don't know really to what extent it has caused damage yet but like all oil leaks, once the oil settles down on to the seabed it forms these little pebble things and then every time there is a storm it just re-pollutes basically, it flushes it back up again and you get more pollution."

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) expressed concern over contamination to migratory fish, particularly young Atlantic salmon and sea trout, which are at the start of their sea-bound migration from the rivers Frome and Piddle that flow through Poole Harbour.

The National Trust said it was also "carefully monitoring the situation", citing particular concern for the harbour's largest island.

"Brownsea Island is a part of an internationally important wetland and marine conservation zone, and is a haven for wildlife, including oystercatchers and sandwich terns," a spokesperson said.

"We remain seriously concerned about the impacts of the spill on wildlife populations and the varied habitats they depend on."

Poole Harbour is the largest natural harbour in Europe and about 5,000 acres of it is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Perenco previously said each barrel contained 158 litres (35 gallons) of fluids that were made up of 85% water and 15% oil.

A PHC spokesperson previously said it had received reports of oiled birds but there had been no known fatalities.

The government has said it intends to launch an investigation.

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