The concerns expressed today by the Environment Protection Authority about Tasmanian salmon farming is powerful additional evidence that the industry needs to clean up its act. The fact is that the industry has a bright future but only if it is put on a genuinely sustainable footing, starting with addressing the EPA’s concerns about bacteria and oxygen levels in Macquarie Harbour, both of which are related to fish stock levels.
The EPA report today is equally powerful evidence that the Liberal and Labor parties have been wilfully ignorant every time they have claimed the salmon industry is world’s best practice. The regrettable fact is that the Liberal and Labor parties’ position is weak and misleading and will put the Tasmanian salmon farming industry on a similar trajectory as the ill-fated forestry industry. In other words the Liberal and Labor parties are intent on ultimately killing jobs and not protecting them.
Andrew Wilkie MP, Independent Member for Denison
