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Premier Jeremy Rockliff digs heels in over Macquarie Harbour salmon amid Maugean skate fight

Premier Jeremy Rockliff has delivered a stern warning to federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek amid efforts to protect an endangered species on Tasmania’s West Coast. What he said.

Maugean skate, an endangered species photographed in Macquarie Harbour.
Maugean skate, an endangered species photographed in Macquarie Harbour.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff has issued a stern warning to federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek after she suggested a “pause” on salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour was possible amid efforts to protect the endangered Maugean skate.

It comes after Ms Plibersek wrote to the Premier on Monday, telling him a review of environmental approvals for salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour could soon occur and that if such an action was taken, a “pause” on aquaculture in the area would be required.

Mr Rockliff said the livelihoods of workers and their families were “at stake” and Tasmania was “not a plaything for the federal Labor government to get Green votes on mainland Australia”.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Picture: Rob Burnett
Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Picture: Rob Burnett

“I have a very clear message for the federal Labor government: you cannot and will not shut down a valuable industry such as the salmon industry on the West Coast, which employs 150 people directly, 350 people across the region more broadly,” he said.

“You simply cannot pause an industry. It’s not like turning off a tap.”

Mr Rockliff urged Ms Plibersek to “come down to Tasmania and meet with the workers, as I did more than a month ago”.

Tasmanian Labor has also backed the salmon industry’s West Coast operations, in a move that threatens to put the party at odds with its federal ALP colleagues.

Opposition Leader Rebecca White will visit the West Coast on Wednesday, along with Labor MPs Shane Broad, Dean Winter and Janie Finlay, to express Labor’s support for the industry.

Tassal salmon pens, in Macquarie Harbour, Strahan, West Coast of Tasmania Picture: MATHEW FARRELL
Tassal salmon pens, in Macquarie Harbour, Strahan, West Coast of Tasmania Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

Mr Winter told reporters on Tuesday that the federal and state governments needed to work with salmon companies and Hydro Tasmania to determine a pathway forward for the harbour “so that we can continue to have a viable and strong aquaculture industry on the West Coast”.

The last known population of the Maugean skate is in Macquarie Harbour and there are believed to be fewer than 1000 left in the wild.

Salmon farming, gillnet fishing, climate change and inflows from Hydro Tasmania power stations have been blamed for reduced oxygen levels in the harbour, which is the key factor behind the skate’s decline.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – NewsWire Photos SEPTEMBER 26, 2022: Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek during Question Time in the House of Representatives in Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – NewsWire Photos SEPTEMBER 26, 2022: Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek during Question Time in the House of Representatives in Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff applauded Ms Plibersek for appearing to have “listened to the scientists”.

“The Labor and Liberal parties are [in] lock-step in being prepared to send a species to extinction in order to support the salmon industry. They’ve got their priorities so far wrong. Tasmanians know that there can be a middle ground,” she said.

Salmon Tasmania CEO Luke Martin said there were “absolutely no guarantees that taking the easy route and blaming salmon will help to save the skate”.

“What it will do is cost jobs and devastate communities,” he said.

robert.inglis@news.com.au

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Original URL: https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/premier-jeremy-rockliff-digs-heels-in-over-macquarie-harbour-salmon-amid-maugean-skate-fight/news-story/e3f8a26383cf7321149915d3ef9b7385