Maugean skate: Petuna Boss Gary Neill says salmon farming not species’ biggest threat
The boss of Petuna Aquaculture says that salmon is not the biggest threat facing the Maugean skate, of which there are thought to be fewer than 1000 clinging to existence in Macquarie Harbour.
Tasmania
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The boss of Petuna Aquaculture, one of Tasmanian salmon’s ‘big three,’ says that finfish farming is not the biggest threat facing the besieged Maugean skate, of which there are understood to be fewer than 1000 clinging to existence in Macquarie Harbour.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, in Tasmania last week for meetings, said that the “key threats” to the species were low oxygen levels in the harbour, driven by Hydro Tasmania’s deoxygenated outflows and finfish farming.
Recreational gillnet fishing was also identified as a contributing factor to the species’ decline – Ms Plibersek said there were “probably” fewer than 1000 individuals left.
Speaking at the unveiling of Petuna’s $13m Cressy III recirculated aquaculture system, Gary Neill, Petuna’s acting managing director, said that finfish farming and the skate could coexist in the harbour, which hosts 11 salmon farms.
He said there were lots of “misconceptions” surrounding the salmon industry’s interaction with the skate.
“What concerns me is the dialogue around this – are we interested in picking one industry over another or do we want to act in the skate’s best interests?” Mr Neill said.
He said that forestry and mining run-offs, deoxygenated outflows from Hydro Tasmania, and gillnetting in the harbour had all played their part in challenging the species.
“A salmon farm has never caught a skate, gillnets do,” Mr Neill said.
“There are other systemic issues with the decline of the species.
“What are we doing together to fix this thing?”
Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson previously said that salmon and the skate’s survival were non-compatible.
He called on Ms Plibersek to use her powers to force the state government to cancel all marine farming licences in the harbour and ban recreational gillnet fishing.
Anti-salmon group Neighbours of Fish Farming were another to call for all finfish farms to be vacated from the harbour.
“The number one action that must be taken urgently is to remove all fish farming from Macquarie Harbour” said Lisa Litjens, vice-president of NOFF.
Ms Plibersek has so far kept her powder dry on the issue, noting that the Maugean Skate Recovery Task Force was meeting currently, with a road map for the species’ survival to be announced in the coming weeks.
Senate estimates in May revealed that the federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee will recommend the skate be upgraded from endangered – which it has been classified as since 2004 – to critically endangered.
Ms Plibersek has committed the federal government to a target of no new extinctions in Australia.
‘Fewer than 1000 left’: Critically endangered status looms for skate
June 29, 2023: Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has resisted calls from Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson to ban recreational gillnet fishing in Macquarie Harbour and cancel marine farming licences to save the enigmatic Maugean skate.
Ms Plibersek did, however, flag other possible action, such as an ex-situ – off-site – breeding program involving the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies “hatching some of their eggs in a proper environment”.
She acknowledged that there were “probably fewer than 1,000 Maugean skates in Macquarie Harbour. It’s the only place in the world where they still exist.”
Her comments come amid revelations the federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has recommended the skate be upgraded from endangered – which it has been classified as since 2004 – to critically endangered.
Speaking in Ross on Thursday, Ms Plibersek said she did not want to pre-empt the work of the Maugean Skate Recovery Task Force, which is meeting currently, by committing holus-bolus to Mr Whish-Wilson’s proposals.
“There’s a number of workshops over coming weeks and, then in the next few weeks we’ll have an answer about the road map for protecting the skate,” she said.
“It is a very critical time to make sure that we address issues of water quality and low water oxygen rates in Macquarie Harbour.
“We know that the key threats to the skate are low oxygen levels, and there’s a link there with the salmon industry in Macquarie Harbour, and there’s a link, of course, with [Hydro Tasmania’s] release of fresh water into Macquarie Harbour.”
“We need to make sure that we are working with [Hydro Tasmania], with the salmon industry, to make sure there’s enough oxygen in the water for the skate to survive.”
According to the Tasmanian Salmon Farming Data portal, there are 11 finfish farms in the harbour, representing all three salmon companies.
Ms Plibersek’s promise of further engagement and additional scientific reports on saving the skate was slapped down by Mr Whish-Wilson.
“Are we really just going to monitor the Maugean skate to its extinction? Decades of monitoring the skate has already sounded the alarm on its imminent demise,” he said.
“Science can inform management decisions but it can’t make them.
“This is now a political call, the minister either pulls out all stops to save the skate or she sticks with the business-as-usual approach that’s led us to this mess in the first place.”
He said that it was not possible for the skate to coexist with finfish farming and called on Ms Plibersek to force the state government to cancel existing marine farming licenses in the harbour and ban recreational gillnet fishing.
The skate is one of 110 species included in the federal government’s Threatened Species Action Plan, released last year.
The federal Labor government has pledged itself to no new extinctions in Australia.
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