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MACQUARIE HARBOUR AQUACULTURE EXPANSION

Kim Booth MP
Greens Primary Industries Spokesperson
Monday, 8 October 2012

The Tasmanian Greens today reiterated their support for Tasmania’s aquaculture industry to meet world’s best practice and put quality before quantity, in order to ensure the long-term viability of the industry.

Greens Primary Industries spokesperson Kim Booth MP said that the announcement by the Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke today highlighted the need for further action to ensure that the expansion of marine farming in Macquarie Harbour does not significantly impact on World Heritage Areas and endangered species like the Maugean Skate.

“The Greens are pleased that the Minister is requiring operators to prevent substantial benthic visual, physio-chemical or biological changes rather than just working to reduce them,” Mr Booth said.

“The decision by the Federal Environment Minister requires that baseline environmental survey and ongoing water quality monitoring is undertaken on all lease areas and compliance sites prior to commencement of operations.”

“This vindicates the Tasmanian Greens original concerns robust baseline data is first required for any effective monitoring to take place.”

“The Tasmanian Greens will continue to push for world’s best practice in marine farming and if you follow where the money is going you will see that it is moving to land-based aquaculture because it doesn’t face the same challenges that aquaculture in our common marine areas does.”

“Tasmania must keep its eye on the ball to protect our environment that all our resource-based industries rely on because we know that our brand and marketing depend on it as does the long-term viability of the industry which depend on their operating environments being healthy and resilient.”

“Without baseline data and effective monitoring in place, any expansion of salmon farming within Macquarie Harbour could have the potential to backfire terribly and undermine the long term viability of the industry.”

“The Greens remain concerned by Minister Bryan Green’s decision last year to bypass the planning process for aquaculture industry through changes to the Marine Farming Planning Act 1995.”

“If marine farm planning were brought under the Land Use Planning and Approvals system, as advocated by the Tasmanian Greens, then these requirements, picked up by the Federal Environment Minister after months of assessment, would have likely been required from the outset thereby avoiding such a lengthy, drawn out and costly process.”

“Reckless development risks turning the harbour into a septic tank with subsequent economic collapse of industries that rely on healthy ecosystems to generate long-term jobs and ensure Tasmania’s diversified economy.”

“The Federal Minister’s conditional approval also sends a warning to Minister Green that he will not be able to sidestep common-sense conditions that are expected of any developments of this size and importance.”

• Martin Exel, Chair, Commonwealth Fisheries Association

8 October 2012
M E D I A R E L E A S E

WWF reassures fishing industry

The Commonwealth Fisheries Association (CFA) was pleased to receive clarification from WWF Australia today that they continue to support trawl fisheries.

Martin Exel, Chair of CFA states “…I was surprised to hear of comments attributed to the President of WWF International, Yolanda Kakabadse, which seemed to indicate a change in direction for WWF. I was contacted directly by WWF Australia this morning, who confirmed they continue to support trawl fishing where it is well managed and sustainable, such as in Australia.”

Martin said he had initially been shocked as “…WWF supports operations of a large number of trawl fisheries around the world. They’ve also been directly involved in working with a number of Australian trawl fisheries to achieve international recognition and certification by the Marine Stewardship Council (an independent accreditation body) as being sustainable and well managed.”

The CFA will continue to work with WWF towards ensuring both recognition for effective fisheries management, and sustainable fishing methods. A number of trawl fisheries around Australia have programs supported by WWF, and CFA is happy to be reassured that this would continue.

• Simon Boag, South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association CEOWWF’s loose lips can sink ships; more care needed

8 October, 2012. For immediate release.

The President of WWF International, Ms Jolande Kakabadse made statements yesterday that all trawling in Australia should be banned. These statements have been widely reported by the media. This has come as a complete surprise to the fishing industry given the increasingly productive relationship that was being built between the industry and the WWF.

Mr Simon Boag, South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association CEO explained that, “The South East Trawl Fishery is the major supplier to the Melbourne and Sydney fish markets of species including flathead, ling and blue grenadier. The fishery has a network of 14 marine parks that have been in place for almost 10 years. These parks and other closures mean that 85% of the fishery is closed to bottom trawling. The fishery is in its 99th year of operation. Australia’s fisheries management is recognised as world leading and the South East Fishery is where this management was developed.”

Mr Boag added that “the Association was really shocked to hear WWF make these statements due to the underlying sustainability of the south east trawl fishery and because this is a very different view to that historically espoused by WWF.”

In a second surprise move Mr Boag explained that, Dr Michael Harte WWF Australia’s National Manager of marine issues rang him today to clarify WWF’s position. “In today’s phone call Dr Harte explained that WWF had no opposition to trawling per se, that they supported sustainable fishing methods and obviously did not support unsustainable fishing methods. Dr Harte stated clearly that WWF were not calling for a blanket ban on trawling at all.

WWF have a history of working with trawl fisheries such as the Northern Prawn Fishery and the Spencer Gulf Prawn Fishery and have financed third party eco-certification for these fisheries. The South East Trawl Fishery is in the early stages of speaking with WWF about a closer working relationship that would produce even better conservation outcomes in the south east. However, Mr Boag explained that “Kakabadse’s statements have damaged the trust that was building between fishermen and the WWF”.

The Association had called on WWF Australia to retract or clarify Ms Kakabadse’s statements which were either misquoted, mistaken or show that WWF does not act in a united way.

Japanese tuna fleet eyes Hobart

• Environment Tasmania’s Marine Coordinator, Rebecca Hubbard: No Precaution on Threatened Species as Federal Government Approves Macquarie Harbour Fish Farms

Environment Tasmania is disappointed that Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke has ignored missing science on the unique and threatened species of Macquarie Harbour and approved a massive expansion of marine farms by TASSAL, Petuna Aquaculture and Huon Aquaculture Group.

“The Endangered Maugean Skate has not been seen anywhere else for 10 years and research to understand the range, population size and breeding habits of the species is incomplete. Yet the Federal Government has approved a massive expansion of fish farms that could see this unique species and its habitat devastated by nutrients,” said Environment Tasmania’s Marine Coordinator, Rebecca Hubbard.

“It appears contradictory for Minister Burke to prevent the super trawler based on a lack of science, then approve Tasmania’s largest marine farm expansion when there is a clear lack of baseline data to even understand the risks, let alone demonstrate that the proposal won’t threaten the Maugean Skate, or be sustainable for this unique ecosystem.

“Minister Burke has set interim trigger levels for a number of indicators, but has failed to require monitoring in the mid and bottom water layers, despite recent studies indicating the Maugean Skate resides,and may even breed, in deeper water.

“The permit conditions require ongoing monitoring, but allow up to half of the species in an area to be eliminated before any management response is required. Even when substantial impacts are identified a further two and a half months can elapse before a management response is implemented. For a species that is found nowhere else on earth, this is not good enough. “Adaptive management” may provide flexibility for industry, but may be too little, too late for our unique and threatened species.

“Government should have required these baseline studies to be completed before approval was given, and required thorough, independent and transparent monitoring to ensure that this huge development is truly sustainable for the Tasmanian community, our natural marine resources, and the economy,” concluded Ms Hubbard.

• TCT Director Peter McGlone: Macquarie Harbour fish farm expansion – Minister Burke fails to protect endangered Skate and world heritage

The TCT stated today that the decision by the Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke that the proposed doubling of the area of fish farms in Macquarie Harbour did not significantly impact the endangered Maugean Skate and the Tasmanian World Heritage Area, and therefore did not require assessment, is incorrect and constitutes an abandonment of his responsibilities.

TCT Director Peter McGlone said today that: “In making his decision, the Minister did not know whether the proposed expansion of fish farms would or would not have significant impacts specifically on the Maugean Skate and the values of the WHA.”

“This is the only question which the Minister is required to answer and he was not provided with (and nor did he ask for) the specific information which could have allowed him to answer it.

“The Minister has just fast tracked this expansion and there is no guarantee the conditions he has applied will actually protect the environment values he is supposed to be responsible for”.

“Minister Burke has placed conditions on the fish farm expansion in relation to water quality and fish habitats but the science has not been done, and nor has he required it, to determine what level of pollution would be a significant threat to the WHA and the Maugean Skate and whether these will be exceeded.

“Rather than requiring specific information to determine the pollution levels which are consistent with protection of the WHA and skate – which would have delayed the project being approved – the Minister has fast-tracked the approval and taken a punt that normal fish farm management measures will be sufficient.

Also, numerous other potential threats to the Maugean Skate and WHA, acknowledged by the state government, were not addressed by Minister Burke’s conditions e.g. introduced pests and diseases, entanglement, escape of farmed fish, spillage of fuels and hydraulic oils and noise related impacts.

“Of particular concern is the Minister’s failure to insist on additional conditions to protect the Maugean Skate from entanglement in fish farm nets, even though the state government admitted that, even with application of safety measures, some skates would be killed in this way,” Mr McGlone concluded.