Maugean skate: Enviro groups not convinced by environment watchdog oxygen results

Enviro groups have hit back at the salmon industry after an oxygen study was hailed was proof the endangered Maugean skate can coexist with industrial fish farms.

Fish farm in Macquarie Harbour, Strahan, Tasmania. Picture: Supplied

The Maugean skate is running out of time, according to environmental organisations responding to a report from Tasmania’s environmental watchdog that showed oxygen levels in Macquarie Harbour at the highest levels in more than a decade.

Australian Marine Conservation Society fisheries and threatened species campaigner Alexia Wellbelove said the skate did not have time for slow improvements in oxygen levels.

She said the Federal Government’s conservation advice recommended reaching pre-2009 dissolved oxygen levels by 2024, a target likely years away despite the recent upward trend.

The deeper waters of Macquarie Harbour are still not at the level where the Maugean skate can safely live, and Ms Wellbelove was concerned that a storm could cause another upturning of oxygen-depleted waters.

A Maugean skate

Storms caused an upturn of deep waters that wiped out nearly half the population in 2009, she said.

She said any introduced skates from the breeding program would “suffer” the “same extreme conditions these last remaining adults face”.

She said the Albanese government had made a commitment to zero new extinctions, and said federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek should stop salmon farming in the harbour in order to meet this commitment.

“The extinction of the Maugean skate would be a devastating blow to Australia’s biodiversity and to Tasmania’s brand and natural heritage,” she said.

The Bob Brown Foundation said the skate could not coexist with salmon farming, after the salmon industry lauded the results of the Environmental Protection Authority report.

Bob Brown Foundation marine campaigner Alistair Allan said the report showed mild improvement in oxygenation in some parts of the harbour, but ignored natural oxygen recharging from seawater entering the harbour over the summer of 23/24.

“It is outrageous to suggest that fish farms can coexist with the Maugean Skate based on this report,” Mr Allan said.

“It’s akin to saying that humpback whales gave birth to lots of young this season, so let’s start commercial whaling again.”

Originally published as Maugean skate: Enviro groups not convinced by environment watchdog oxygen results