Media release – Janie Finlay MP, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries and Water, 8 October 2021
A day to celebrate our incredible Salmon industry
Today is World Salmon Day, a day where we celebrate Australia’s incredible salmon industry.
Shadow Minister for Primary Industries and Water Janie Finlay said today was the perfect opportunity for industry, government and our community to come together and show their support for the people who work in this great sector.
“World Salmon Day is an opportunity for industry, workers and the 1000’s of people in our community who work with this industry to come together and celebrate the people who make it so great,” Ms Finlay said.
“Today I call on the industry and the government to join with Labor to support a national campaign that celebrates the great people who work in and support this nationally significant industry.
“The Salmon industry is an important part of Tasmania’s economy and it is crucial that we come together to celebrate and share with the rest of the country the passionate, clever and dedicated people who work within it.
“It is so important that together with government and industry we work to share with the rest of the country, what we already know about just how great the workers are and how much they contribute to our regional communities.
“Tasmanian Labor is a strong supporter of the salmon industry and looks forward to working with government, industry and the workforce over the years ahead.”
Open Letter – Tasmanian Alliance for Marine Protection, 8 October 2021
Response to Janie Finlay
Dear Janie,
Were ‘World Salmon Day’ all about preserving and celebrating the majestic wild Atlantic and Pacific salmon rather than celebrating a toxic Tasmanian industry, it would be a day worth marking.
Quite why you are supporting a ridiculous marketing campaign for a disgraced industry that ignores its impact not only on coastlines and marine life but on coastal communities where many of your voters live, is incomprehensible.
You and your party would do well to evolve a policy to establish a sustainable industry with sustainable jobs before the inevitable collapse brought on by hubris, greed and forces of nature.
Given your past views, it’s hard to believe that you seriously wish to celebrate floating fish cages in the Huon River, Long Bay, Macquarie Harbour, D’Entrecasteaux Channel and other low-energy waters that smother marine life, create algal blooms, injure wildlife and litter beaches with debris.
A good start for your party would be to distance yourself from a discredited government and its support for this destructive industry and adopt the the Dennes Point Declaration.
The Tasmanian Alliance for Marine Protection and its many members, supporters and sympathisers will stand beside you should you choose the wise course.
Sincerely,
Peter George
co-Chair, TAMP
Media release – Bob Brown Foundation, 9 October 2021
Bob Brown Foundation to take on industrial salmon
Bob Brown Foundation is expanding its leading environmental advocacy from the ecosystems on land to the Tasmanian oceans and coasts as we embark on a dedicated campaign to rescue the public commons from industrial salmon. Tasmania’s marine environment is suffering from devastating impacts from industrial salmon and needs protection and restoration.
“Our Foundation will be taking action to protect Tasmania’s oceans, coastlines, and riverine ecosystems. We will have a Seal Hotline, for people to report on Big Salmon and their devastating impacts on wildlife and the environment. We will be in the markets, on the streets, and out on the ocean rescuing the public commons off the corporations,” Bec Howarth, Bob Brown Foundation’s Fish Farm, and Marine Campaigner said.
Bec Howarth, ecologist, Tasman Peninsula local, and mother has joined Bob Brown Foundation as the Fish Farm and Marine Campaigner. A Country Women’s Association branch president, volunteer firefighter, and long-time volunteer in her local community suffering from industrial salmon expansions. Bec is dedicated to advocating for places like Storm Bay, “Over 900 hectares of approved leases are allocated for fish farming already in Storm Bay. Expansion in Storm Bay will place industrial polluting feedlots next to the much-loved Iron Pot lighthouse, the gateway to Hobart, spreading to Bruny Island and the Tasman Peninsula, less than 12km from globally famous Shipstern’s Bluff. These are our favourite surfing, fishing and sailing spots, and they’re Tasmania’s public waters,” Bec Howarth said.
“The ocean covers 71% of planet Earth and plays a crucial role in sustaining all life. However, overfishing, pollution, and climate emergency are placing ocean ecosystems under extreme stress. In the current climate and biodiversity crises the health of oceans are critical for mitigating catastrophic impacts,” Bec Howarth said.
“Here in Tasmania, the floating feedlots operated by the Salmon barons have contaminated world heritage ecosystems like Macquarie Harbour, treasured local waterways in the Huon and D’Entrecasteaux. The pending destruction of Storm Bay and Tasmania’s north-west are next on their agenda. Our environment and local communities have suffered from immeasurable marine debris in our waters and along our beaches, algal blooms, rubbish, and seal abuse,” Bec Howarth said.
“We want outcomes that deliver protection for the marine environment including halting the mega expansion, reverse the greed driven invasion of public commons with polluting factory feedlots and stop the killing of marine wildlife,” Bec Howarth said.
“We are here to rescue the oceans, rivers, and coastline from the Salmon barons. We know that Tasmanians care deeply for their island, wild oceans and coast, and its wildlife. Generations of Tasmania treasure the wonder and beauty of Tasmania’s environment and people move here for it. Wealth comes from a healthy environment without dead zones, fecal pollution from factory farms with dubious certification and non-existent regulations,” Bec Howarth said.
“Tasmania’s wild nature currently being plundered by industrial salmon supports unique marine life found nowhere else in the world and this is worth fighting for. We want the Tasmanian community to know, we’ve got your back. We will be advocating for the protection of oceans, coastlines, riverine ecosystems, and wildlife that are suffering under the industrial salmon regime,” Bec Howarth said.
“Bob Brown Foundation brings with it a feisty, vigilant, and action-oriented reputation and we are here to rescue Tasmania’s waters from the toxic salmon crisis. I am really looking forward to continuing to work with the Tasmanian community and I want to encourage everyone to redouble their efforts in protecting our precious coasts,” Bec Howarth said.
Media release – The Local Party, 9 October 2021
The ALP need to get real on salmon
The ALP is leading Tasmania down an old, divisive and unproductive path with its blind and politically driven support of the salmon industry.
A recent media release from the Shadow Minister for Primary Industries and Water, Janie Finlay MP stated that “The Salmon industry is an important part of Tasmania’s economy and it is crucial that we come together to celebrate and share with the rest of the country the passionate, clever and dedicated people who work within it.”
“We all want to protect jobs in the salmon industry but closing your eyes to the problems of the industry is not protecting jobs, it’s risking them.” Said Leanne Minshull, Senate candidate for the Local Party
“Rather than calling for a national PR campaign, the ALP should take real action for workers and stand up to the industry.
The planned rapid expansion of the industry will protect investors not workers. Shareholders will stuff thier pockets, but workers will end up on the dole line when the industry inevitably crashes
As former ALP Premier David Bartlett recently tweeted; They (the industry) are taking the same ham fisted, boof-headed approach that Hydro took in the eighties, and Forestry/Gunns took in the nineties/noughties.
The Local Party is calling on industry and government to take real action for workers by convening a state – wide citizens jury on the future of the salmon industry.
“Steam rolling Tasmanians just isn’t going to cut it any more”
