New evidence to front the Marine Farming Planning Reveiw Panel

The lax regulation of the Tasmanian aquaculture industry has come under the spotlight at a parliamentary inquiry into fish farming in Tasmania. Have your say.

THE current lax regulation of the Tasmanian aquaculture industry jeopardises its sustainability, two whistleblowers will tell a parliamentary inquiry on Friday.

Professor Barbara Nowak and Louise Cherrie quit the Marine Farming Planning Review Panel in 2018 over their concerns about its oversight of the industry.

They are set to appear before the Fin Fish Farming in Tasmania Inquiry to explain why they don’t think things have improved since.

“We are both supportive of a sustainable salmon industry in Tasmania,” they said in their joint written submission.

“However, we have concerns about the current planning and regulation of the salmon industry, which is at significant risk unless changes are made to the legislation and operation of the Marine Farming Review Panel.

A fin fish inquiry is assessing possible changes to the legislation and operation of the salmon industry. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

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“The flaws in the legislation have directly resulted in environmental harm in Macquarie Harbour, which is unlikely to fully recover.

“Poor functioning of the Marine Farming Planning Review Panel includes the inability to apply sound science, an unwillingness to discuss and learn from changes, and the propensity to only provide advice operationally convenient to the salmon industry.”

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The pair quit the panel after telling minister Guy Barnett that it was not acting in the best interests of the state and they no longer wanted to be involved.

Their appearance before the inquiry will coincide with the launch of an Environment Tasmania advertisement claiming the industry is responsible for the dumping of 10.6 million kg of salmon excrement into Tasmanian waters each year.

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ET spokeswoman Laura Kelly said more than 2200 people had signed a petition expressing their concern with current regulations.

“It is clear that the governance around salmon farming approvals in Tasmania has been seriously compromised,” she said.

However, Environment Minister Roger Jaensch said Tasmania’s environmental monitoring was world class.

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