TGS plan to conduct seismic testing between Tasmania, Victoria scrapped after opposition

A proposal to conduct seismic testing in Commonwealth waters between Tasmania and Victoria has been abandoned following a determined campaign of community opposition.

Drone photo of the Surfrider paddle out at Torquay in March, as part of the Save our Southern Seas campaign against seismic testing in Bass Strait. Picture: Supplied

A controversial plan to undertake seismic testing in Commonwealth waters between Tasmania’s North-West Coast and Victoria has been scrapped in the wake of fierce community opposition.

Energy data company TGS had been preparing to conduct a massive seismic survey for gas in the Otway Basin west of Bass Strait. It would have occurred 38km from land at the closest point and spanned an area of 31,500 sq/km, lasting for a maximum duration of 400 days.

However, in a statement released on Thursday, TGS announced it had notified Australia’s offshore energy regulator NOPSEMA that it had shelved the proposal due to “competing global priorities”.

Steph Curley. Hundreds of surfers joined a mass paddle to protest seismic blasting in the Otway Basin. Picture: Alan Barber

It comes after NOPSEMA last year received tens of thousands of submissions against the project, with conservationists raising concerns that the survey activity could have negative impacts on sealife.

Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) oil and gas campaign manager Louise Morris said seismic blasting was “deadly” for marine life, particularly zooplankton and whales.

“The TGS seismic blasting proposal threatened endangered species such as the pygmy blue whale, and the Zeehan Commonwealth marine park,” she said.

“We cannot allow more oil and gas industrialisation in Australia’s south-east seas, where marine life is already experiencing multiple threats including climate change, with the waters there warming 3-4 times the global average and currently enduring a severe marine heatwave.”

Tasmanian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said TGS’s withdrawal was an “historic moment” and showed that “community pressure works”.

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson. Picture: Linda Higginson

“Increasingly people from all walks of life are waking up to the dangers of seismic blasting in our oceans – there’s no plausible excuse for it,” he said.

“This is a siren call to all the fossil fuel companies eyeing off our oceans: your time is up.”

In its environment plan submitted to NOPSEMA, TGS said its proposed survey would not have killed, injured, or interfered with whales or dolphins within the Australian Whale Sanctuary.

“In light of the extensive suite of proposed controls, the overall conclusion from the environmental risk assessment is that the impacts from the [survey] have been reduced to [as low as reasonably practicable] and acceptable levels,” the plan read.

CGG, a geoscience technology services firm, has applied to conduct seismic testing close to a whale nursery in the Otway Basin, which the AMCS is continuing to rally against.

Originally published as TGS plan to conduct seismic testing between Tasmania, Victoria scrapped after opposition