UN dives into Tasmanian heritage-harbour salmon row
The United Nations has asked the Albanese government to answer claims salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour is damaging the values of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
The UN has asked the Albanese government to answer claims that salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour is damaging the values of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
Environment groups in early April wrote to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation claiming that reduced water oxygen levels linked to fish farming were pushing an endangered skate to extinction.
The Weekend Australian has confirmed that UNESCO has now taken up the issue with the Australian government, seeking a response to the concerns.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is reviewing federal approval for aquaculture in the harbour, on Tasmania’s west coast after a request from green groups and advice from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee that “organic loads” from salmon pens have a “catastrophic” impact on the maugean skate.
About a third of Macquarie Harbour is in the world heritage area, and deep marine species including the skate are listed as contributing to the area’s key values.
Ms Plibersek’s spokeswoman said no salmon farming occurred inside the world heritage area and that efforts to save the skate population – believed to have halved between 2014 and 2021 – were under way.
About $2.5m in federal funding, including for captive breeding, was committed, she said.
The scientific committee in 2023 urged “urgent action” including to “eliminate or significantly reduce the impacts of salmonid aquaculture on dissolved oxygen concentrations”.
“The fastest and simplest way to achieve this is by significantly reducing fish biomass and feeding rates,” the committee advised.
It warned of the otherwise “high risk of extinction” of the skate “in the near future”.
However, the $1.3bn salmon industry – a key employer in regional Tasmania – contests the advice, pointing to its commissioned scientific report that fish farms have minimal impact on the skate’s environment.
UNESCO’s decision to get involved was hailed by the Australia Institute. Its Tasmania director, Eloise Carr, called for the release of the government’s official response.
“Australians will want to know what the government’s response is, given the weight of scientific evidence that the salmon industry looks set to cause the extinction of this world heritage value,” Ms Carr said.
Salmon Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said while it was natural UNESCO should be concerned about the skate, environment groups had provided a skewed view.
“The activist organisations have presented UNESCO with a very slanted perspective focused on aquaculture and not the many complex factors known to be impacting the harbour and the skate – including warming waters, hydro releases, and a long legacy of gill fishing,” he said.
“Frankly, the activist organisations seem far more obsessed with attacking the aquaculture industry then actually securing the future of the skate. We are very confident on the regulatory and science framework underpinning our operations in the harbour, and that aquaculture is actually having a minimal impact on the natural environment of the skate.”
Mr Martin said the industry was addressing the skate’s plight.
In November, Ms Plibersek warned that salmon farming needed to be reduced in the harbour, and that a complete shutdown might become necessary if 2012 approvals were found to be no longer valid.
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