‘We reject categorically there is a problem’, salmon farmers tell Senate inquiry

TASSIE’S salmon farmers say the industry can co-exist with other aquaculture, despite claims their practices are devastating abalone and mussel stocks.

Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff.

TASMANIA’S salmon farmers say the booming industry can co-exist with other aquaculture, despite claims their practices are devastating nearby abalone and mussel stocks and causing environmental damage.

MORE: SALMON FARMS UNDER SCRUTINY

It’s a stance supported by the State Government, which on Wednesday released the findings of an independent scientific review of salmon farming which Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff said found no adverse impacts.

“(The review) has not found any evidence that indicates a direct cause-and-effect relationship between abalone production and the salmon farming development in the area,” he said.

And while the Tasmanian Salmonid Growers Association says the same findings apply to the impact on mussel farming, not all parties are convinced.

Warwick Hastwell, who has been farming mussels at Dover, south of Hobart, for six years, blames an up-current salmon farm for a marked reduction in growth rates and also for a brown sludge that covers his stock, plus sediment in the water.

“Our 2015 crop has not reached a marketable size. We have had to lay off our staff, we have no cash flow and limited working capital left to survive and it’s essentially not a matter of if we go out of business but when,” Mr Hastwell said.

Concerns include the material used to build nets for salmon farms, net-cleaning practices, and by-products including feed and waste which fall through nets and enter the waterway.

The parties are among several stakeholders giving evidence to a public hearing of the Senate’s environment committee, which is probing the adequacy of regulation measures in the Tasmanian aquaculture sector.

Today’s opening of the two-day hearing was told there were 672 regulations across 70 acts governing Tasmania’s salmon industry.

Growers’ association chairman Chris Dockray denied there were any issues with how his members were operating.

“We reject categorically that there is a problem,” he said.

Association boss Adam Main said Tasmania boasted world-leading practices in the salmon industry.

“Our impact that we have through fish farming is kept to our (leasehold) footprint,” he said.

And with Tasmania’s salmon production expected to double by 2030, Dr Main said the fish farms could co-exist with other aquaculture.

“Do we observe mussels growing within our lease area? Yes, we do. Do they grow big? Yes.”

The public hearing continues tomorrow.

Read more in tomorrow’s Mercury ...