Two activists from the Bob Brown Foundation have boarded a floating fish farm in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour as they ramp up their fight to save the endangered Maugean Skate, angering the boss of one of the state’s biggest salmon businesses.
The West Coast harbour is the only place the Maugean skate, a species of ray, are found and it is thought there are fewer than 1,000 of them left.
Both activists argue that they resorted to alleged trespassing to send a “very clear message” that the Skate “must not be allowed to go extinct”.
“We are here today to remind Tanya Plibersek that she made a promise to the Australian public that there would be no new extinctions on her watch,” Marine campaigner Alistair Allan said.
“Plibersek’s own department listed removing or significantly reducing fish farm biomass as the number one priority before summer arrives to give the Maugean Skate a chance of survival.”
“In 2012, the condition of the environmental approval to expand fish farming in the harbour was that it must not impact the Maugean Skate. We now know unequivocally that it is.”
The foundation are calling on Plibersek to “urgently remove all fish farms from Macquarie Harbour” and say she “cannot allow the world’s first extinction caused by aquaculture to occur on her watch”.
Salmon Tasmania CEO Luke Martin slammed the “photo opportunity for social media” and suggested the protestors “focus less on fundraising stunts and more on asking others, like Hydro and mining, what they are doing right now at protect the Maugean Skate”.
“The trespass action today in Macquarie Harbour by Bob Brown Foundation (BBF) activists put our staff, our livestock and the activists themselves in significant danger,” Martin said.
“Now that they have achieved this, it is time for BBF to consider the significant risks of sending unskilled and inexperienced activists into an operational marine farm environment.”
“The salmon industry is the only industry stepping up to provide a science-based solution. The $6 million co-investment into the Macquarie Harbour Oxygenation Program follows the science to ensure we do our part as we continue to care for the health of the Harbour.”
