Media release – Neighbours of Fish Farming (NOFF), 17 February 2025

Rotting salmon flesh washed up at Verona Sands—Potential Licence Breaches

Despite promises of increased regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), three major environmental issues with salmon farms have been picked up in three days by Neighbours of Fish Farming (NOFF).

NOFF has penned an urgent letter (attached) to Wes Ford, outgoing Director of the EPA, seeking answers and demanding penalties for salmon farming companies in breach of the licences.

1) Footage sourced by the Bob Brown Foundation shows a clear breach of licence conditions with rotting salmon carcass remains streaming off the suction barge into the marine environment at Creeses Mistake – A Tassal lease near the Tasman Peninsula. Seals can be seen gorging on the rotting flesh. A breach of the general license conditions. The footage was released on Friday 14th February 2025.

2) The local community at Verona Sands, on the Huon River mouth are furious at the rotting biological matter washed up on the shore, polluting a much-loved and usually pristine beach. The organic matter, thought to be rotting salmon flesh, has also been found within the Nine Pin Marine Reserve at the south eastern end of Verona Sands. Images attached. The beach is within sight of the south of Zuidpool Rock Huon Aquaculture lease, sparking concerns that the pollution could contain antibiotics and disease. The pollution event occurred early in the morning of Sunday 16th February and persisted throughout the day.

3) Salmon farming licences across the state lapsed for a period of 42 days, expiring on November 30 2024, and not renewed until January 16 2025, causing doubt over whether accurate mortality data statewide will be captured for the full length of the season.

“It’s simply not good enough to be claiming rigorous regulation when pollution and oversight at this level are happening in our public waterways,” says Jess Coughlan, Campaigner at Neighbours of Fish Farming.

“NGOs should not have to be carrying out surveillance and effectively doing the EPA’s job. As regulator, the EPA have the resources and responsibility to monitor and enforce licence conditions, rather than relying on self-reporting by industry.”

“Residents at Verona sands have every right to be outraged at the pollution which is causing a revolting stench, with possible health ramifications. NOFF demands that the EPA carries out an immediate investigation into who is responsible, how it happened under the EPA regulations, and whether the pollution contains antibiotics or other chemicals that have the potential to cause harm.”

“While we welcome the new ‘mandatory mortality by weight’ reporting conditions now in place statewide (formerly only Macquarie Harbour required this level of reporting), it seems convenient that in a horror summer like the one we are in, the regulator would exclude 42 days of data collection through mere oversight – data which would contribute to a real time, full scale assessment of the welfare issues and sustainability concerns within the salmon industry as it currently operates.”

Media release – Bob Brown Foundation, 17 February 2025

Shock at pieces of rotten salmon wash ashore on southern Tasmanian beach

Large quantities of rotten salmon washing ashore on a southern Tasmanian beach is shocking and points to the problems with the polluting salmon industry that Prime Minister Albanese and Opposition Leader Dutton backs without question.

Bob Brown Foundation is calling on Huon Aquaculture to immediately notify the public about what has happened, and with reports of people’s dogs eating the salmon chunks if it poses a health and safety risk to people and their pets.

Images of chunks of salmon fat washing ashore at Verona Sands, right near Huon Aquacultures Zuidpool lease have been captured by local community members. The Zuidpool lease is the very same lease that recently announced the need for large antibiotic use because of disease. Images of teams from Huon Aquaculture quickly trying to clean up the mess have been released by the public, but no answers have been provided as to what the substance is.

Bob Brown Foundation suspects the chunks to be remnants of dead fish that have been allowed to contaminate the waters and now the Verona Sands beach.

“Once again, the huge foreign owned salmon factory farms are polluting the waterways and beaches, and refuse to tell the community what has happened,” said Alistair Allan, Bob Brown Foundation’s Antarctic and Marine campaigner

“These chunks of fat, are suspected to come from dead fish at a Huon lease, that recently announced the need to use large amounts of antibiotics due to a disease breakout.”

“Now families and their children are walking along a beach strewn with rotting salmon fat. People have been reporting their dogs eating it, as well as local wildlife. This company Huon Aquaculture needs to tell people if this is a risk to their pets.”