Tassal told to destock Macquarie Harbour farm lease

THE state’s biggest salmon producer has been told to harvest or destock one of its Macquarie Harbour farming leases by the end of this month.

Tassal will face an independent audit of its Macquarie Harbour operations next week as well as being ordered to destock one of its leases. Picture: PETER MATHEW

TASMANIA’S Environment Protection Agency has told the state’s biggest salmon producer to harvest or destock one of its Macquarie Harbour farming leases by the end of this month.

Tassal has remained tight-lipped about whether it will meet the deadline to remove fish from the double-size lease.

The 266, or Franklin, lease sits closest to the world heritage area border, and is the same site that was the subject of 14 non-compliance issues after an underwater survey in September.

A spokesman for Tassal said: “Given the pending legal action and the fact that Tassal is considering its position with respect to this matter, Tassal is not in a position to make any comment about its operations in Macquarie Harbour.”

Tassal’s competitor Huon Aquaculture has launched legal action against industry regulators over the health of the harbour.

MORE: HUON AQUACULTURE LAUNCHES ACTION TO ‘PROTECT HARBOUR’

EPA director Wes Ford said Tassal had provided the EPA with details of its harvest strategy for the 266 lease.

He said the rate of harvesting in coming weeks would determine whether the EPA was satisfied with the strategy.

“The lease will be destocked and then fallowed, it won’t be restocked until it has recovered to a satisfactory level,” Mr Ford said.

Mr Ford said there was no additional concern about the lease’s proximity to the world heritage area, however Huon Aquaculture executive director Frances Bender said on Monday that she believed impacts from salmon faming had extended past the WHA boundary.

Mr Ford said Tassal could be permitted to farm lease 266 in future if it showed appropriate levels of recovery.

The direction to destock was issued alongside the EPA’s decision to reduce maximum biomass in the harbour to 14,000 tonnes in January. The number has been disputed by Ms Bender, who believes it should be 10,000 tonnes. The dispute is central to Huon’s Supreme Court action.

Dissolved oxygen levels in the harbour are at record lows, and there has been a significant decline in the abundance and diversity of organisms at the bottom of the harbour.

Tassal will face an independent audit of its Macquarie Harbour operations next week to assess them against Aquaculture Stewardship Council standards – the industry’s “gold standard” certification.

Tassal’s spokesman said it would be inappropriate to pre-empt the Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s audit process.

It is understood research by IMAS scientists found that sediments under one of Tassal’s Macquarie Harbour leases were “virtually devoid of all fauna out to at least 500 metres from the cages”.

Labor and the Greens have called for the IMAS report to be publicly released.

It comes as Premier Will Hodgman says the Government will defend its actions on fish farms.

Labor blames the Government’s “hands off” approach for the looming legal saga.

“We will defend vigorously the work that’s been done by the EPA and by government to ensure our very important salmon industry is sustainable and continues on a path of expansion and growth, because it’s supporting Tasmanian jobs,” Mr Hodgman said.

Huon Aquaculture has launched legal action against industry regulators over what it says is a last resort to prevent more environmental damage to Macquarie Harbour.

In the Supreme Court, Huon lodged proceedings against Mr Ford and Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff, requesting that the EPA’s January determination that the harbour could safely stock 14,000 tonnes of salmon be declared invalid.

Opposition Leader Bryan Green said the State Government should have intervened earlier.

“The reason this industry has descended into chaos is the Government has not gotten involved,” Mr Green said.

“The Government has effectively been hands off and that’s led to a situation now where they have got themselves and the federal jurisdiction in court trying to sort this out.”

Mr Green said while the present inshore fish farming industry had Labor’s support, the industry’s future would likely lie in offshore farms.