Media release – Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for the Environment And Water, 7 September 2023
NEW PLAN TO HELP SAVE SWIFT PARROT
The Albanese Labor Government has today released a new Recovery Plan to boost the long-term survival of the critically endangered swift parrot.
Once found widely across eastern Australia, there are now only about 750 mature birds left in the wild.
The Plan will guide recovery work including improving and increasing breeding habitat in Tasmania and reducing the number of sugar gliders, a key predator, in breeding areas.
Protection and recovery of the swift parrot requires the cooperation of state and local governments and support for on the ground work in local communities.
The Tasmanian and Queensland governments have signed onto the Plan. New South Wales and Victoria have been invited to join also.
The Albanese Government is investing more than $1.3 million in projects to support swift parrot recovery.
The swift parrot was listed as critically endangered in 2016 and is one of the 110 species prioritised under the Government’s Threatened Species Action Plan.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for the Environment and Water, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP:
“The swift parrot is one of just two migratory parrots in the world. They breed in Tasmania during the summer and then they fly across the Bass Strait during the winter.
“While their rainbow feathers were once common across southeastern Australia, they are now critically endangered due to population decline.
“This new Recovery Plan will help all governments protect and revive this iconic species. It will help protect them from predators, support their habitats, and promote their future breeding.”
NATIONAL THREATENED SPECIES DAY: NEW STEPS TO SAVE THE MAUGEAN SKATE
The Albanese Labor Government is investing over $2.1 million to set up a captive breeding program to help save the Maugean skate.
The captive breeding program will help create an insurance population.
Sadly, it’s estimated that there are fewer than 1,000 Maugean skates living in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, the only place in the world where it still exists. Numbers of the Maugean skate are disappearing due to low oxygen levels and poor water quality.
While the Maugean skate is currently listed as endangered, it is being reassessed. The Government has also received an updated Conservation Advice to guide the skate’s protection and recovery under national environmental law.
The Conservation Advice provides new analysis of the current threats, such as poor water quality and outlines immediate and longer-term actions to help the Maugean skate recover.
It also considers how to boost community awareness to help reduce threats like accidental capture in fishing nets.
We will work sensibly with the Tasmanian Government and the salmon industry to get a good outcome.
The Maugean skate is one of 110 species prioritised for recovery under the Government’s Threatened Species Action Plan.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for the Environment and Water, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP:
“The Maugean skate has been in trouble for many years now and the population in Bathurst Harbour is already lost. We have to act fast to bring it back from the brink of extinction. We need better protection and funding for urgent conservation – and that’s exactly what we’re doing.
“We know the key threats remain poor water quality in Macquarie Harbour from aquaculture, hydro operations and climate change. Our Government is committed to doing what we can to assist, and we urge the salmon industry and Tasmanian Government to take the action needed to clean up Macquarie Harbour so the Maugean skate can survive for another 100 million years. We will cooperate wherever possible to get the best results, including continuing work through the Maugean Skate Recovery Team.
“The Albanese Labor Government is committed to protecting our precious plants and animals and leaving nature better off for our kids and grandkids.”
Media release – Invasive Species Council, 7 September 2023
Ambitious feral cat plan welcomed on Threatened Species Day
The Invasive Species Council and the Biodiversity Council have today welcomed the release by the federal government of a draft Threat Abatement Plan for Feral Cats for public consultation.
The announcement, on Threatened Species Day, comes just days after the UN’s Invasive Alien Species Report highlighted the critical need for Governments around the world to take the threat of invasive species seriously and invest the resources required to prevent the next wave of extinctions.
Professor Sarah Legge, who contributed to the draft plan, and is a member of the Biodiversity Council said:
‘This is an important and ambitious plan to take serious action on one of the greatest threats to Australia’s native wildlife.
‘The environmental toll from feral and roaming pet cats cannot be understated. They are responsible for the deaths of an estimated 2 billion native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs every year and have driven over 25 of our native species to extinction.
‘Without serious action to control feral cats in Australia we could lose iconic native wildlife like bilbies, numbats, and night parrots. Forever.’
Jack Gough, Advocacy Manager for the Invasive Species Council said:
‘By this time tomorrow, an estimated 8 million animals will have been killed by the millions of feral and roaming pet cats in Australia. We need our governments to step up with funding, focus and reform that matches the seriousness of this threat to our wildlife.
‘We are pleased to see such a comprehensive threat abatement plan released for consultation. Importantly it highlights the opportunities around island eradications, supporting indigenous rangers and the need for state and territory legislation and policies to enable effective cat control and responsible pet ownership.
‘But this can’t be a plan that just collects dust on a shelf, it needs real money to shape action on the ground. Success depends on the Albanese Government stepping up to commit the $60 million in funding the plan says is needed over the next four years.
‘At a minimum, all state and territory governments should declare feral cats to be pests, support all appropriate control tools and develop their own feral cat plans.
‘In Victoria for example, the ban on the use of baiting to control feral cats is putting wildlife at risk and undermining the plan to eradicate cats on French Island, to protect endangered bandicoots and shore birds.’
Media release – Sustainable Population Australia (SPA), 7 September 2023
Human population growth an ongoing threat to species
Habitat loss and degradation is the greatest threat to native plants and animals in Australia, and human population growth is the underlying cause, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA).
SPA national president Jenny Goldie says Australia is facing an extinction crisis with 556 species on the national threatened fauna list and 1402 species on the national threatened flora list.
“Agriculture, mining, and urban sprawl have been the main causes of habitat loss and degradation,” says Ms Goldie. “Now we have worsening bushfire and floods caused by climate change, a direct result of humans burning fossil fuels.
“The more people there are, the more food, mineral resources and houses are needed. Greenhouse gas emissions tend to rise as human populations grow.
“Our most beloved icon, the koala, was declared an endangered species by the NSW Government in 2022. Koalas are threatened because the eucalypt trees on which they depend are being cut down. Loss or fragmentation of forest leaves the koala vulnerable to predation by dogs and being struck by vehicles, and stress makes them susceptible to disease.
“In Queensland, much of the koala’s habitat overlaps areas where people want to live. It is where significant clearing has already occurred, and continues to occur for human development, whether it be urban, industrial or rural development.”
Ms Goldie says the situation is likely to get worse as the Australian population grows.
“The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that, in 2022, Australia’s population grew by nearly half a million, or 496,800, people. The growth rate was 1.9% compared to the OECD average of 0.4%.
“We cannot sustain such a high population growth rate and protect the habitats of other species at the same time. We already have the highest rate of mammalian extinctions in the world. Let’s rein in population growth and stop further extinctions,” says Ms Goldie.
Media release – Environment Tasmania, 7 September 2023
LATEST ADVICE FROM FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON MAUGEAN SKATE CALLS SALMON INDUSTRY IMPACT ‘CATASTROPHIC’
The Federal government has listed aquaculture as a ‘catastrophic’ threat to the survival of the Maugean skate in Conservation Advice released this morning, indicating that the consequence from this ongoing threat to the skate will be a ‘population trajectory close to extinction’.
The same report made a ‘Call for “urgent” action before Summer 2023/24’ which would mean steps to “Eliminate or significantly reduce the impacts of salmonid aquaculture on dissolved oxygen concentrations. The fastest and simplest way to achieve this is by significantly reducing fish biomass and feeding rates”
“The Conservation Advice released by the Federal government this morning reiterates the urgency needed for destocking Macquarie Harbour of salmon pens'” says Rebecca Howarth, Marine Campaigner for Environment Tasmania.
“There are no words minced about the major driving force behind the decline in the Maugean skate. It is written there in black and white. Salmon farming poses a catastrophic risk to the skate and the primary threat to the skate is the low oxygen caused by the salmon farm.”
“This absolutely debunks the line that the Tasmanian government has been trying to spin about the science being ‘inconclusive’. How much more evidence do they need?”
“The report calls out the management measures (of reducing some salmon stock) as not having ‘substantially’ improved oxygen levels. As Minister Plibersek has said herself before, more drastic action is needed”.
“This report should instill in Minister Plibersek the confidence she needs to make the right choice here, and order the immediate destocking of salmon pens in Macquarie Harbour.”
Media release – Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, 7 September 2023
Plibersek ignores conservation advice on Maugean skate
Minister Plibersek has ignored her own department’s conservation advice and is failing to show the strong political leadership necessary to help prevent the Maugean skate from going extinct.
New conservation advice states that for the Maugean skate to be afforded the best possible chance of survival impacts of salmonid aquaculture on dissolved oxygen concentrations in Macquarie Harbour must be “eliminated or significantly reduced”. The advice explicitly states that the fastest and simplest way to achieve this is by “significantly reducing fish biomass”.
Yet, on the eve of Threatened Species Day, Minister Plibersek made the underwhelming decision to ignore this advice, and instead opted for a $2.1 million funding announcement focused on creating a Maugean skate insurance population if it can’t be saved in its wild home.
Quotes attributable to Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:
“Minister Plibersek’s decision to ignore her own department’s conservation advice tells you everything you need to know about how captured the Labor party is by the big salmon corporations that are trashing Tasmania’s magnificent waterways.
“What’s the point of having a Threatened Species Scientific Committee and establishing a Maugean Skate National Recovery Team to help save the species, if you then disregard its key findings?
“Minister Plibersek has the power to act and to save the Maugean skate from extinction and she needs to pull every lever available to her to make this a reality, yet her decisions so far have been completely underwhelming.
“Clearly Minister Plibersek is failing to show the strong political leadership necessary to protect the skate, making the survival of this ancient species a political decision.
“The Minister’s failure to heed her own department’s advice also raises significant questions as to whether Labor is serious about its Zero Extinction pledge.”
Media release – Vica Bayley MP (for Clark, Tasmanian House of Assembly), Greens Environment Spokesperson, 7 September 2023
Tasmanian Liberals the Biggest Threat to Endangered Wildlife
It is Threatened Species Day, a national day that highlights the plight of some of our most unique and vulnerable plants and animals and in a sorry gong for Tasmania, it falls on the anniversary of the death of the last known thylacine, a species we here in this state hunted to extinction 90 years ago.
Aquaculture licences in Macquarie harbor expire later this year and when asked whether the Tasmanian government would act to prevent the extinction of the Maugean skate in Macquarie Harbour, Minister Jaensch refused to take any meaningful action.
Yesterday, on the Maugean skate Federal Minister Tanya Plibersek said “Our Government is committed to doing what we can to assist, and we urge the salmon industry and Tasmanian Government to take the action needed to clean up Macquarie Harbour so the Maugean skate can survive for another 100 million years”. Today, Environment Minister Jaensch confirmed he had no intention of removing salmon farms from the harbour, guaranteeing a sorry prognosis for the skate’s future.
The Liberal Government’s poor track record on threatened species protection has been writ large. Eight endangered wedge tailed eagles have been killed by a windfarm that purports to have the most ‘cutting edge’ technology – when much better protections exist. IMAS is reporting a 47% decline in the Maugean skate population in the last seven years.
Against expert advice, Forestry Tasmania is still logging swift parrot nesting and foraging habitat – despite very clear recommendations in the Swift Parrot Recovery Plan that nesting and foraging habitat not only be conserved, but be actively restored. The logging destruction of their habitat must stop.
Despite the science, expert advice, and absolute clarity on the reduction of threatening processes and protection of habitat that needs to happen, the Liberals continues to turn a blind eye to industries’ impact on our most threatened species.
Industrial-scale, caged salmon farming is demonstrably the biggest threat to the Maugean skate. When the environmental licences that currently permit salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour expire this 30 November, the government must give the EPA the political space it needs to make the necessary decision to not renew those licences.
On Threatened Species Day the Tasmanian Government must commit to doing what is needed to save our precious, unique flora and fauna.
Media release – Neighbours of Fish Farming, 7 September 2023
“A clear and present danger”: Federal report reveals salmon industry as greatest Threat to Maugean skate and Macquarie Harbour
The Tasmanian salmon industry and State government have been put on notice to de-stock Macquarie Harbour to protect Maugean skate from extinction.
NOFF welcomes the Federal government assessment on what is required to prevent the loss of the 60-million-year-old dinosaur animal that exists only in the waterway.
“There’s nowhere left for the industry or the state government to hide,” says Peter George, president of NOFF.
“The report makes clear the urgency of de-stocking the salmon and ocean trout cages that have been the main contributor of the catastrophic collapse of Maugean skate numbers.
“The state government and the salmon industry have been put on notice by the Federal government’s brutal analysis of what’s driving the potential extinction and the urgent need to get rid of an industry that is the prime cause of depleted oxygen and diminishing health of Macquarie Harbour.
“In light of this report, there’s simply nowhere left to hide.”
The Federal Government’s conservation advice for the Maugean skate, issued yesterday, lists “increasing the levels of dissolved oxygen in Macquarie Harbour” through reducing the salmonid industry as the first priority.
In the report’s ‘risk matrix’, (page 29) the level of threat from the salmon industry is listed as almost certainly ‘catastrophic’ – greater than the threat of climate change, recreational and gillnet fishing and historic pollution from mining operations.
“Clearly changing water flows from the Hydro can also have an impact on the harbour’s health but now there is no hiding from the fact that the salmon industry is the greatest ‘clear and present danger’.”
Media release – Janie Finlay MP, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries and Water, 7 September 2023
Breeding program welcomed but we must protect economic contribution of salmon industry
Tasmanian Labor continues our strong support of the state’s salmon industry as measures are put in place to protect the Maugean Skate in Macquarie Harbour.
Labor welcomes the Federal Government’s commitment of $2.15 million to develop a Maugean skate captive breeding program and acknowledges the release of the independent federal assessment into the Maugean skate by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee today.
Members of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee were appointed by the former Federal Liberal Government and have repeatedly consulted with the Tasmanian Liberal Government on this issue.
We will take the time to review the report and fully understand the findings.
The Rockliff Government must now work with salmon participants to ensure a strong future for the state’s largest primary industry, which generates nine out of 10 jobs in regional areas and generates $1.36 billion annually to the Tasmanian economy. Tasmanian Labor stand by the workers, the industry and the west coast community.
The salmon industry already adheres to strict environmental standards and the state government must work with the sector and other stakeholders to ensure that salmon farming can continue to prosper on the west coast and across Tasmania.
Tasmania’s salmon industry is one of the state’s greatest success stories and it is important that the minority Liberal government supports this sector and provides opportunities for growth and innovation, rather than holds it back.
Securing the future of the Maugean skate and the future of the salmon industry in Tasmania requires sound science and a balanced approach.
Tasmanian Labor is excited to back in the selective breeding program and looks forward to receiving updates on the progress.
Media release – Bob Brown Foundation, 7 September 2023
Maugean skate must thrive in Macquarie Harbour, not a fish tank
Today’s announcement by the Federal Environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, of $2.1 million for a Maugean skate captive breeding programme falls well short of genuine conservation action. These funds would be far better spent on removing fish farms from Macquarie Harbour.
The announcement comes with an updated conservation plan for the Maugean skate that includes some important recommendations and outcomes:
Urgent Priority – before summer 2023/24
• Eliminate or significantly reduce the impacts of salmonid aquaculture on dissolved oxygen concentrations. The fastest and simplest way to achieve this is by significantly reducing fish biomass and feeding rates.
The Federal Environment minister is choosing to ignore this advice from her own department and instead placing a bet on a risky strategy of putting Maugean skates in fish tanks.
We could be one adverse weather event away from this ancient creature’s extinction. Fish farms must be immediately destocked and removed from Macquarie Harbour.
“When the minister promised no new extinctions on her watch, I don’t think the Australian public imagined that meant we would have a threatened species zoo,” said Alistair Allan, Antarctic and Marine campaigner at Bob Brown Foundation.
“Captive breeding is not the solution to the problem. In the federal government’s updated conservation plan, released today, they list fish farm impacts on the skate as ‘catastrophic’, so that’s what must be addressed.”
“Fish farms and Hydro flows were listed as catastrophic impacts on the Maugean skate. All of the other impacts that Salmon Tasmania have been highlighting, such as historical mining impacts and gillnetting, were listed as only major impacts. Fish farms must get out of Macquarie Harbour if the Maugean skate has any chance of survival.”
“The word catastrophic is not used lightly by a government. The salmon industry and the Tasmanian government must act now and remove all fish farms from Macquarie Harbour.”
“Wes Ford and the Tasmanian EPA must also refuse to renew the licenses for Macquarie Harbour fish farms on 30 November this year. It would be inconceivable to approve them, given the plight of the Maugean skate.”
Today, Ekō, Sea Choices, NOFF and Bob Brown Foundation have launched a campaign calling for Australia’s major supermarkets to act now to protect the skate and halt the sale of any salmon or trout sourced from Macquarie Harbour.
In the twelve hours since the campaign went live on our website, over 34,000 people have signed on urging the supermarkets to act.
“Coles, Woolworths and Aldi have the power to act now. They are the most important buyers of Tasmanian salmon. The salmon farms on Macquarie Harbour will stop operating when their biggest buyers stop buying.”
“They can save the skate today by refusing to buy any salmon sourced from Macquarie Harbour,” Alistair Allan said.
Labor’s Tanya fails on extinction day
“Einstein said that you can’t fix a problem with the mindset that caused it. But Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, is out to prove him wrong,” Bob Brown said in Hobart today.
Plibersek refuses to act on the direct cause of extinctions in the wild which is the destruction of habitat. Instead of the species, she is protecting environmentally destructive industries like native forest logging and feedlot aquaculture and using taxpayers’ money to breed up the rare species in birdcages and fish tanks.
This is the minister using capitalism as a remedy for the injury it is causing.
The answer in the cases of the swift parrot and Maugean skate is simple – protect their ancient habitats and remove the invaders from those habitats. That is, use ecology to fix these ecological problems rather than the economics which have caused them.
Meanwhile, in Tasmania, where the migratory swift parrot has returned from the mainland after winter to nest and breed, logging is underway in its ancient breeding forests.
“It’s a catastrophe in Tasmania’s native forests for swift parrots. Just this last fortnight, logging has resumed in parrot habitat in the south,” Bob Brown Foundation Campaign Manager Jenny Weber said.
“Ending the logging immediately is the critical step to avoiding extinction for the fastest parrots on Earth,” Jenny Weber said.
“Prime Minister Albanese and his Environment Minister Plibersek have the power to address swift parrot decline without wasting time with measures that won’t meet the requirements of parrot recovery while its breeding habitat is being destroyed by logging,” Jenny Weber said.
Today’s announcement by Minister Plibersek that there will be an “improving and increasing of habitat for the swift parrot” is meaningless.
Swift parrot expert Dr Matt Webb says, “The single biggest threat to the survival of the swift parrot is habitat loss in the breeding range. The most important action we can take is the cessation of habitat loss in the breeding range. Addressing other threats is meaningless without this action. There is no uncertainty around priority habitat which requires immediate protection.”
Photos from a currently active logging operation destroying swift parrot habitat in Southern Tasmania:
Media release – Australia Institute Tasmania, 7 September 2023
Federal government advice annihilates salmon industry claims of sustainability in Macquarie Harbour
The Australian Government has released new Conservation Advice aimed at preventing the extinction of the Maugean skate in time for Threatened Species Day 2023.The advice provided to the Tasmanian Government states that for the Maugean skate to be afforded the best possible chance of survival, impacts from salmonid aquaculture on dissolved oxygen concentrations in Macquarie Harbour must be “eliminated or significantly reduced”. The advice explicitly states that the fastest and simplest way to achieve this is by “significantly reducing fish biomass”.
The federal intervention comes at a critical moment when marine farming and environmental licenses for finfish farming in Macquarie Harbour expire on 30 November 2023.
Key Points:
- The advice identifies the highest priority is to improve dissolved oxygen concentration within Macquarie Harbour waters by 2024.
- It recognises the fastest and simplest way to ‘eliminate or significantly reduce’ the impacts of salmonid aquaculture on dissolved oxygen concentrations is by reducing fish biomass and feeding rates.
- This is described as an urgent priority that should be actioned before summer 2023/24.
- It also details other key actions including improving hydro-electric river regulation, potential mechanical reoxygenation, and a captive breeding program as urgent priorities.
- Longer-term priorities include improving the monitoring and regulation of water quality, and remediation of historical mining pollution, among others.
“The advice clearly lays the blame for poor water quality at the feet of the salmon industry. It also makes it abundantly clear that the science on this is rock solid, blowing industry efforts to say otherwise out of the water,” said Eloise Carr, Executive Director of the Australia Institute Tasmania.
“The federal government has told the Tasmanian Government to take the action needed to clean up Macquarie Harbour so the Maugean skate can survive. This is as clear a message as you’ll ever get from a government minister that this industry needs to get out of the harbour. Previous reductions have not improved dissolved oxygen levels – this is why the industry needs to go completely.
“The salmon industry has been saying the science isn’t clear, that more research is needed, but the Conservation Advice from the federal government blows that theory sky high. We know the key threat is poor water quality in the Harbour and that the primary cause is aquaculture. This is what the scientists say, what the Department of Environment says and what the Federal minister says.
“The question is now: what will the Tasmanian Government do in response? We think they have an obligation not to renew the licenses when they expire on 30 November this year.”
Media release – Hydro Tasmania, 7 September 2023
Modelling underway to help protect Maugean skate
Hydro Tasmania welcomed the Australian Government’s recommendation to reinstate CSIRO’s hydrological modelling to help protect the endangered Maugean skate, with work already underway.
The recommendation was handed down by the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water as part of a detailed report outlining advice to conserve the Maugean skate.
Macquarie Harbour is home to about 1000 Maugean skate, the last known population of the species anywhere in the world. Low dissolved oxygen levels are thought to be the main contributing factor in the decline of the species, putting it on the endangered list.
The report found that while altered river flows from hydropower infrastructure were not considered a primary cause of low dissolved oxygen in Macquarie Harbour, they may be one part of the solution.
Hydro Tasmania CEO Ian Brooksbank said experts at Hydro Tasmania had been working with CSIRO to get the hydrological model back up and running as a matter of priority.
“The hydrology of Macquarie Harbour is very complex. River flows play a role, but it’s not a case of turning on a tap at the end of the harbour to change flows and increase dissolved oxygen. Things such as meteorological conditions also play a significant role,” Mr Brooksbank said.
“Given the complexity, we want to be sure any changes to our operations improve environmental outcomes and do not cause unintended adverse outcomes. That’s why the modelling is so critical.
“It will underpin any potential action we take in Macquarie Harbour to help save the Maugean skate.”
Hydro Tasmania is a member of the National Recovery Team and continues to work constructively with all stakeholders, including those from government, industry, community, and science.
Mr Brooksbank said Hydro Tasmania was committed to doing its bit to safeguard the environment and protect wildlife.
“We do a lot of work to identify and protect endangered species in Tasmania.
“We have teams of scientists and other experts working to ensure the environment and hydropower infrastructure can co-exist sustainably.”
In 2020, staff at Hydro Tasmania’s consultancy business, Entura, discovered short-tailed rain crayfish at Lake Burbury in western Tasmania. The species was previously thought to be extinct.
And, in 2022, Entura staff working at yingina / Great Lake found a tiny aquatic snail species Beddomeia tumida which was also thought to be extinct.
Media release – TAMP, 7 September 2023
REVOKE salmon industry’s environmental licences To protect Maugean skate
The state’s peak marine protection body, TAMP, calls for environmental licences permitting salmon industry operations in Macquarie Harbour to be revoked.
The demand follows the release of a federal government assessment of the threat to the Maugean skate that exists only in Macquarie Harbour. (http://www.environment.gov.
TAMP president, Peter George, says the report makes it clear that open-net salmon cages polluting the waterway are the major threat driving the potential extinction of the 60-million-year-old dinosaur animal.
Skate numbers have dropped so dramatically that scientists warn the skate may be just one major event away from being wiped out.
“Environmental licences for salmon industry operations in Macquarie Harbour are due for review in November and refusal to renew them would prove the quickest and most likely way to help recover the waterway’s health and stave off potential extinction,” says Peter George.
“This is down to the Tasmanian EPA’s chief, Wes Ford, making the obvious decision and he needs to be backed-up by state Environment minister, Roger Jaensch.
“The salmon industry will fight tooth-and-nail to remain in Macquarie Harbour no matter how much damage its doing to the waterway.
“The salmon industry and the minister have done their best to obfuscate, trying to hide the clear science that shows open-net fish cages are the major cause of the waterway’s declining health.
“This crucial advice provided to the Federal Environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, leaves the salmon industry and state authorities nowhere to hide.”
TAMP notes that gillnet fishing and changes to river flows caused by upstream Hydro dams have also impacted Macquarie Harbour, along with historic pollution from mining, but evicting salmon and ocean trout pens from the waterway is clearly the most urgent and effective action that can be taken.
Any mooted plan to breed Maugean skate in captivity would simply waste taxpayers’ money unless its natural habitat – Macquarie Harbour – is restored to full health. Otherwise, a breeding programme would do no more than reduce yet another species to a zoological exhibit.
Media release – Tasmanian Independent Science Council, 7 September 2023
Independent scientists call on the Government to properly regulate the impact of industry on threatened species.
On threatened species day (Thursday, 7 September) a number of Recovery Plans and Conservation Advices were released by the Federal Government for some of the nation’s most at risk species. For Tasmania, this included a recovery plan for the Swift Parrot and a conservation advice for the Maugean skate, both critically endangered.
Both documents have indicated that industry is the major threat to both species. For the swift parrot, the Recovery Plan states that native forest logging is ‘a significant threat to the continued persistence of the species’, while the Conservation Advice for the Maugean skate highlights salmon farms as the predominant threat.
However, the management recommendations for both species differ substantially. Advice for the skate recommends, “significantly reducing fish biomass” in Macquarie Harbour, which properly addresses the main threat. But the Recovery Plan for the swift parrot does not require any changes to existing forestry practices, despite scientists identifying native forest logging as the key threat to the species for many years.
Dr Jennifer Sanger, a member of the Tasmanian Independent Science Council and co-founder of The Tree Projects, is extremely disappointed with the Recovery Plan.
“This Recovery Plan is our last chance to properly protect the swift parrot, and it completely ignores native forest logging as a threat. This recovery plan is a death warrant for this species.”
While the Recovery Plan for the swift parrot calls for the protection of critical habitat as a management action, it excludes any areas under Regional Forest Agreements, which are areas managed for native forest logging. Regional Forest Agreements are also excluded from national environmental laws.
“The Regional Forest Agreements are insufficient for managing threatened species, and the Federal Government has even acknowledged this. But once again, we see a carve out of the forestry industry from having to abide by the rules. It’s just unacceptable in the midst of Australia’s extinction crisis,” said Dr Sanger.
Dr Ed Butler from the Tasmanian Independent Science Council was pleased to see that the impact of salmon farming on the skate was being addressed in the Conservation Advice and urged the Tasmanian Government to not extend fish farm licenses in Macquarie Harbour after their expiry on 30 November 2023.
“We need to see Macquarie Harbour destocked of finfish farms. Perhaps to demonstrate their commitment to Tasmanian jobs, the foreign-owned salmon producers could instead implement land-based, closed-loop recirculating aquaculture systems on the west coast,” Dr Butler suggested.
