Sea water drips off mussels and starfish on part of Europe’s largest offshore mussel farm, built by the Holmyard family, on the English Channel some 5km (3 miles) off the Devon coast, southern England, Britain, November 1, 2024. Even this far offshore, harmful bacteria such as E.coli can pollute the water, blocking exports to continental Europe for weeks and damaging the prospects of a business producing sustainable food. “It’s criminal that they’re allowed to dump what they dump in the seas and get away with it,” sales manager Sarah Holmyard said during a visit to the farm. “It’s affecting all sorts of businesses, including us.” While Britain’s shellfish industry is small, the problems faced by the Holmyards underscore how failings with the most basic services in British society such as water and sewage can harm the broader economy. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez