by Lucy McDonald, ABC
Macquarie Harbour salmon farming may face pause amid ‘reconsideration’ of licence, Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek warns
Salmon farming operations in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour could be temporarily halted, Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has warned, amid a push to protect the endangered Maugean skate.
The harbour, on Tasmania’s west coast, is the only place where the skate is found.
But its numbers have been declining due to low levels of oxygen in the harbour — primarily due to “unsustainable salmon farming”, as well as hydro operations and climate change, Ms Plibersek said.
Read the full story here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-07/macqarie-harbour-salmon-farming-might-be-paused-for-skates/103072286.
Media release – Neighbours of Fish Farming, 7 November 2023
Federal Environment Minister must act quickly To prevent Maugean skate extinction
NOFF welcomes positive news that the Federal Environment minister is taking the potential extinction of the Maugean skate in Macquarie Harbour seriously.
But NOFF urges Tanya Plibersek to act quickly and not to order a drawn-out re-examination of the science that already clearly indicates the Atlantic salmon industry is the main driver of the threat to the 60-million-year-old animal.
The Minister has written to Premier, Jeremy Rockliff, warning industry operations may have to be stopped to prevent the extinction.
“The science and the physical evidence is already clear that the waterway’s health has been in decline since the salmon industry established its feedlots and it just became worse as production ramped up,” says Jess Coughlan, campaigner for NOFF.
“If the minister wants to live up to the promise of “no extinctions” on her watch then a decision to remove the feedlots must be made quickly.”
Ms Coughlan points out IMAS scientists have warned the skate could be wiped out by one extreme event and a feared marine heatwave in Tasmania this summer could be that event.
She says neither the captive breeding proposal for the skate nor the industry’s proposed engineering solutions to pump oxygen into the waterway had been trialled or evidence produced that it would make a real impact on the survival of the skate or the health of the harbour.
“The industry’s suggestion of an engineering solution is self-serving and will likely enable its salmon to grow fatter more quickly while doing little to improve the oxygen levels in the harbour.
“NOFF encourages the minister to stay the course and stand up to the foreign-owned industry’s aggressive warnings that it will not give up “a single fish or a single job” to save the skate.”
Media release – Janie Finlay MP, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries and Water, 6 November 2023
Tasmanian Labor supports state’s salmon industry
Protecting and supporting workers is in Labor’s DNA.
Labor Leader Rebecca White, Shane Broad, Dean Winter and I will be visiting the west coast tomorrow to show our support for the industry, workers and the community. Tasmanian Labor will always stand up for the west coast.
The situation at Macquarie Harbour is complex. Focusing solely on salmon farming won’t work when we know climate change and warming water, altered water flows from hydro dams and more than century of run-off from mining are also affecting oxygen levels in the harbour.
But one thing is clear: reducing or removing salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour will affect workers and their families, small businesses, industry suppliers, processors, transporters and local medical and educational services on the west coast.
The salmon industry has been proactive and has committed $6 million for major oxygenation projects in the harbour. This should be the immediate focus and it is time others also stepped up to the plate.
Tasmania’s salmon industry can’t be taken for granted.
The Rockliff Government must stand up for the salmon industry and work with Labor and other stakeholders to ensure that salmon farming continues in Macquarie Harbour.
Media release – Rosalie Woodruff MP, Greens Leader, 7 November 2023
Plibersek Must Listen to Scientists and Save the Skate
With the Maugean skate on the brink of extinction, it’s urgent the Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek listens to the science and intervenes to stop fish farming in Macquarie Harbour. We are concerned her proposal to undertake yet another review could spell disaster for this critically endangered species.
The science is indisputable – if fish farming in Macquarie Harbour is allowed to continue, this prehistoric species will be lost forever. Just one hot summer could push this species to extinction, and we cannot let this happen on our watch.
The multi-billion dollar multinational corporations who run this industry could not care less about their impact on the environment. After years of warning about the damaging impacts on the Maugean skate and World Heritage Area values of their operations in Macquarie Harbour, their response has been to continue business as usual.
While the industry’s PR machine is working overtime in the media trying to mislead Tasmanians about the scientific evidence, the actual experts who have been studying the demise of this endangered species are very clear that fish farming is the primary risk to its survival.
The State Liberal government and the federal minister’s Tasmanian Labor colleagues want to see fish farming continue in Macquarie Harbour no matter the environmental cost. We urge Minister Plibersek to listen to the scientists instead, and step in before Christmas to save this precious, ancient species.
Twitter comment – Jeremy Rockliff, 7 November 2023
— untitled —
Last night I received a letter from the Federal Minister regarding salmon farming in Tassie. I want to be clear. I will not stand by and allow bureaucrats in Canberra to kill off our Salmon Industry, or any other jobs on the West Coast.
Our Government backs our salmon industry 100%. We back the businesses that it supports.
We back the jobs that it creates, allowing Tasmanian mums and dads to put dinner on the table and pay their mortgages. Mortgages that continue to skyrocket because of Federal Labor policy settings.
The Salmon Industry on the West Coast is worth over $100 million to Tasmania each and every year. Any knee-jerk decision to halt operations by Minister Plibersek would put 350+ jobs at risk, especially in regional communities right across Tasmania.
That’s more than 350 families who have a right to go to work every day and provide for their families.
They can send all the platitudes, and talk about co-operation until the cows come home, but at the first opportunity Labor are getting into bed with the Greens, to the detriment of Tasmanian families.
Any loss of jobs will be on the heads of @Tanyaplibersekx and the Federal Labor Government. We will absolutely hold them to account for any damage they cause to Tasmanian livelihood.
Media release – Bob Brown Foundation, 6 November 2023
Minister Plibersek must do everything in her power to protect the Maugean Skate.
Bob Brown Foundation urges Minister Tanya Plibesek to do everything in her power to save the Maugean skate from extinction.
“Removing salmon farms from Macquarie Harbour is necessary to protect the skate, a species on the brink of extinction that only occurs in this harbour,” said Alistair Allan, Antarctic and Marine Campaigner at Bob Brown Foundation.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has indicated that salmon companies may have to pause operations to protect the Maugean skate if any of the three requests for a review of fish farming in Macquarie Harbour are found to be valid.
“The Australian public loves our oceans and the animals that inhabit them and it’s Minister Plibersek’s job to protect them.”
“We would be right behind Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek if they do the right thing and remove the salmon farms and approve the reconsideration of the decision to allow fish farms in Macquarie Harbour.”
“Minister Plibersek promised no new extinctions, if she is to keep that promise then fish farms must be removed from Macquarie Harbour. The Maugean skate must not be allowed to vanish from this planet forever.”
