<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/feb/22/anthony-albanese-under-pressure-on-salmon-farming-from-both-conservationists-and-industry>
"Anthony Albanese is caught in a pincer movement over a pre-election pledge
that he will protect salmon farming in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, with
conservationists and industry leaders both urging him to rethink the
commitment.
The future of salmon farming in the harbour on the state’s west coast has
become a sharp political issue centred on whether it can coexist with the
endangered Maugean skate, an endemic ray-like species that has survived since
the age of the dinosaurs.
After months of lobbying by industry leaders and Tasmanian Labor MPs, the prime
minister last week wrote to salmon companies saying the government would change
the law to ensure there were “appropriate environmental laws” to “continue
sustainable salmon farming”.
Guardian Australia last year revealed a government scientific committee found
that aquaculture in the harbour had substantially reduced dissolved oxygen
levels and should be scaled back or removed to save the skate from extinction.
The industry group Salmon Tasmania, backed by Liberal and Labor MPs, has argued
the threat can be managed and called on Albanese to guarantee workers’ jobs.
The prime minister’s letter cited a new scientific report by the Institute for
Marine and Antarctic Studies that said recent surveys suggested skate numbers –
which crashed last decade – were likely to have significantly increased over
the past two years, returning to about 2014 levels. The report stressed the
need for continued monitoring.
Eight conservation councils led by Environment Tasmania have written to
Albanese expressing “grave concern” about his commitment to introduce
salmon-specific legislation. They said it would effectively override national
law, undermine an ongoing review by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek,
and disregard Australia’s international obligations under the world heritage
convention. About a third of Macquarie Harbour is included in the Tasmanian
wilderness world heritage area.
The letter, seen by
Guardian Australia, said the prime minister’s decision
could lead to the skate being wiped out – at odds with a Plibersek promise that
there would be “no new extinctions” – and that the new report showed skate
numbers remained critically low and “extremely vulnerable” to an extreme
weather event, such as the “inversion” event that led to mass deaths during a
storm in 2019."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
