Today Tasmania’s peak environmental group will release a damning dossier on the shortcomings of regulation of Australia’s largest fishery sector, the Tasmanian salmon industry. Environment Tasmania can also confirm that they are assisting a leading ethical investment group in their investigation of Tassal Group, the largest salmon producer in Australia.
Environment Tasmania’s investigation into industry regulations, ‘Cleaning up Tasmanian Salmon: How the Tasmanian Government can restore social licence and secure jobs in Tasmania’s salmon industry’ is being released following a Four Corners probe into the industry and yesterday’s acknowledgment by Tasmania’s Environmental Protection Authority that companies are breaching licence conditions in Macquarie Harbour, where oxygen levels in the water have reached zero in some areas and faeces and bacteria are accumulating on the floor of the harbour.
“Not a single fine, or change to production limits, has been issued by the government in response to further evidence that salmon companies are breaking the law in Macquarie Harbour. Oxygen has been at worrying levels since 2013, and after three years, the only response we have seen from the Tasmanian Government is a polite request that companies comply with the law,” said Laura Kelly, Strategic Director of Environment Tasmania.
“Alarmingly, our review of Tasmania’s salmon farming regulations shows that there is nothing to prevent the ecological crisis which is occurring in Macquarie Harbour from happening again. Tasmania’s regulations continue to allow farming in sheltered, warm bays and harbours, which the contemporary scientific evidence shows cannot withstand the pollution from industrial salmon farming,” Ms Kelly said.
“These are the very regulations which Fisheries Minister, Jeremy Rockliff, recently claimed to have overhauled to make leading edge.”
Environment Tasmania’s investigation of salmon industry regulations has found that some of the zoning laws governing industry expansion have been written not by government, but by the salmon industry. This is the case for the 20 year-old zoning law overseeing industry expansion north of Bruny Island, an internationally recognised tourism destination.
“The salmon industry writing laws to govern its own expansion is reminiscent of Gunns’ lawyers drafting Lennon’s pulp mill legislation and raises questions about who is running the state”, Ms Kelly said.
Environment Tasmania can also confirm that it is working with fund managers at Australian Ethical Investments, one of Australia’s oldest and largest ethical funds on the ASX, to assist in its investigation of the sustainability of Tassal Group’s farming practices. In response to the Four Corners investigation of the industry, the fund manager recently released the following statement on social media.
“We’re reviewing the information and issues covered in the program, including the sustainability of current practices in Macquarie Harbour; the sustainability of new sites identified for expansion of aquaculture in Tasmania; and concerns raised about the quality of governance of aquaculture regulation in Tasmania. As part of this we’re consulting with relevant stakeholders, including Environment Tasmania, and we will also be seeking further information from Tassal. This will feed into our ongoing assessment of the sustainability of Tassal’s operations.”
The fund manager’s announcement came after a smaller ethical fund, Augustus Investments, divested all of its shares in Tassal Group and boutique fund manager, Tribeca Investments, confirmed its sale of $3.78 million in Tassal stock.
Last week in The Australian newspaper, leading Tasmanian tourism personality, Rob Pennicott, joined the growing group of community and business leaders calling for salmon industry regulations to be rewritten to reflect the contemporary scientific research on the damage done by intensive inshore farming.
“Salmon farming is a very important economic pillar for Tasmania, but it’s got to be done in a sustainable manner. We can’t keep having expansion after expansion without very good science around the environmental impact. We need clear parameters. We need ….new regulations written,” Mr Pennicott siad.
Mr Pennicott’s comments were supported by Frances Bender, CEO of the second largest salmon company in Australia, Huon Aquaculture. Ms Bender reiterated her call for the Tasmanian Government to overhaul regulations to protect the industry’s brand.
Download a copy of ‘Cleaning up Tasmanian Salmon: How the Tasmanian Government can restore social licence and secure jobs in Tasmania’s salmon industry:’
http://cdn-src.tasmaniantimes.com.s3.amazonaws.com/files/CleaningUpTasmanianSalmonFINAL.pdf
Laura Kelly Strategy Director Environment Tasmania
