 Cockle pickers say the west Wales industry has lost �3m |
Cockle pickers in west Wales are to press for compensation after a parliamentary report found tests which closed beds off Gower were unreliable. They are also calling for senior figures in the Food Standards Agency to resign after a committee of MPs criticised the body for inflicting "very real and unnecessary damage" on the shellfish industry.
Dozens of people employed in the Burry Inlet, between Gower and Llanelli, were out of work for nearly 14 months because the tests conducted by the FSA suggested the presence of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP).
The FSA in Wales said it felt it had listened to all views and its tests were independently checked.
Cockle pickers estimate the industry in west Wales has lost �3m as a result of sporadic closure of the beds since 2001.
 |  They have put this industry through hell and back  |
Rory Parsons, managing director of Parsons Pickles in Burry Port, said the report by the House of Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee published on Friday showed there was no need to close the beds.
MPs criticised the FSA's slowness to investigate alternative explanations for the positive tests, to listen to the industry's suggestions, or accept the methodology could be at fault.
Mr Parsons told BBC Wales News Online: "The fishery was shut for 14 months. The gatherers and others were out of work and could not earn a penny.
"It has taken three years to establish whether there are toxins or not. It is nothing short of a disgrace.
Uncertainty
"There should be resignations over this because they have put this industry through hell and back.
"How can I as a businessman invest in my business with such uncertainty in the industry."
Mr Parsons and others involved in the industry sent cockle samples for independent testing after FSA results started to show the presence of DSP in 2001.
Mark Swiston, who runs a �2.5m processing plant in Penclawdd, said: "As time went on and we investigated ourselves the way the testing was done we sent parallel samples away to other labs and they always came back negative.
"Hopefully it's going to lead to some compensation for the industry."
'Devastating effect'
Steve Wearne, director of the FSA in Wales, said the cockle pickers had been consulted throughout the problems of the past three years.
"Although it is not always possible to consult in advance of placing a ban we feel we have listened to the concerns of everyone," he said.
"We looked at our own tests and they were independently audited.
"There are still uncertainties as to what may be causing this unusual affect so it may well be that there is a toxin in there.
"We do realise though the devastating effect this had had on the industry and our colleagues in the (Welsh) assembly did offer some compensatory payments for the time the cocklers were out of work."
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