An interim report produced by Marine Solutions Tasmania and released by the Tasmanian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) into antibiotic monitoring at Huon Aquaculture’s Meadowbank hatchery has prompted renewed calls from independent MPs for changes to the regulation of freshwater salmon hatcheries.

The report follows Huon Aquaculture’s use of the antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) in January to treat bacterial enteritis at the Meadowbank hatchery on the River Derwent.

According to the EPA’s interim monitoring results, OTC was detected above reportable levels in some sediment, water, and wild fish samples following the treatment.

The report found that 57 per cent of sediment samples collected between 27 January and 7 May exceeded the reportable level. Elevated OTC levels were also detected in water samples and wild fish until 3 March.

Independent Member for Nelson Meg Webb said the findings demonstrated the need for mandatory and timely public reporting of antibiotic use, fish mortality, and monitoring results at freshwater hatcheries.

The findings, she said, “go to the heart of public confidence in our independent regulatory entities and the proactive protection of our waterways”.

“Tasmanians deserve an explanation for the delay in upgrading freshwater fisheries’ environmental licences to require mandatory disclosure of incidents, and a firm commitment to accelerate that process as a priority,” she said in a media release on 6 June.

Independent Member for Franklin Peter George also responded to the report, calling on the Tasmanian Government to bring forward the closure of flow-through salmon hatcheries.

“The salmon companies cannot be allowed to get away with the excuse that they need to protect their diseased fish when human health and the health of critical waterways is threatened,” he said in a media release on 6 July.

He added that salmon companies have the capacity to build and operate water-recycling hatcheries, and argued there was “no excuse” for delaying the transition away from flow-through systems.

The official response from the EPA is that no remediation actions are required because “the levels of Oxytetracycline (OTC) detected via the monitoring program do not equate to environmental harm, nor do they pose a risk to human health”.

“As such there is no ongoing environmental risk associated with the use of OTC at the Meadowbank hatchery.”

The interim report is available here.

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