Taste testers give seafood all-clear after Shell oil spill in North Sea

The scientists at the Scottish Government’s Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen – chosen and trained for their ability to recognise hydrocarbon taint in fish – have found no trace of contamination in any of the samples of cod, haddock, plaice and other species recovered from the seas around Shell’s Gannet platform, where almost 220 tonnes of oil spilled from a leaking valve on a subsea pipeline last month.

Divers finally closed the leaking valve more than a week after the spill was detected on the installation, 113 miles east of Aberdeen.

The announcement that the spill has had no impact on marine life was made by Scottish fisheries secretary Richard Lochhead in Aberdeen, after he visited the Marine Scotland science laboratories in Torry, where both the taste tests and chemical analysis were conducted,

The Marine Laboratory is the only designated facility for the sensory assessment of fish and shellfish in the UK in the wake of a major offshore spill.

Mr Lochhead said the results of the tests were welcome news for two of Scotland’s most important industries – North Sea oil and fishing.

And he said that the taste testing of fish samples from the scene of the spill had been critical in enabling scientists to establish quickly that there were no health concerns.

Mr Lochhead said: “Marine Scotland Science uses the latest methods and technology to measure pollution levels, but sometimes the sensitivity of the human tongue can prove a more effective and efficient indicator than the most hi-tech equipment.

“It’s impressive that these taste testers can assess so accurately and consistently for the presence of oil in the fish samples – and this has supported very fast initial results.

“I would like to thank all the Marine Scotland staff who did such sterling work during and after the Gannet incident.”

He added: “This presented many challenges, but the co- ordinated response and specialist staff on-site in Aberdeen has helped us deal with the issues as quickly as possible.

“I’m pleased that we now have the all clear – with results showing concentrations of hydrocarbons are low and within safe limits.”

Professor Colin Moffat, the head of science at the marine lab, said that the human tongue was a “very effective way” of detecting oil and other petroleum hydrocarbons within fish and shellfish.

The conclusions of the sensory taste panel had been backed by chemical analysis.

Prof Moffat said the ten-strong team had analysed fish caught at 12 sampling stations to the north, south, east and west of the spill site, both near the site of the spill and up to two miles away. Water and sediment samples had also been analysed.

He said: “We analysed 12 samples chemically, but many more samples were analysed by the sensory panel, because they can go through a lot more samples a lot quicker.

“They analysed scores of fish and none of the samples came up as tainted. There was no taint at all.”

Prof Moffat said he had not been surprised by the results.

“Over the years we have analysed a large number of samples from the North Sea and have not encountered taint in normal, everyday fishing activities,” he said.

“In the sediment and water samples [taken at Gannet] what dominated all the chemical profiles was the natural hydrocarbons that are present in the environment.

“It was quite a small volume of oil that was spilt and therefore it disperses very effectively.”

A spokeswoman for Shell said: “Shell UK acknowledges the report from Marine Scotland Science and welcomes its findings.”

She added: “An investigation into the cause of last month’s leak at the Gannnet Alpha installation is under way and we will co-operate with government authorities as they conduct their own investigation.”