The Prime Minister has confirmed “salmon farming operations on Macquarie Harbour will continue”, as a new report points to an upward trend in the population of an endangered species.
Scientists say research catch rates of the Maugean skate in the West Coast harbour are back to levels last seen in 2014, an encouraging sign that the species’ wild population is improving.
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) researcher and report author David Moreno noted that while overall numbers are up, juvenile contribution rates still haven’t returned to pre-2009 levels.
“We are pleased to report that these current estimates are similar to 2014, with the timing of this trend aligning with improved environmental conditions in the harbour, particularly an increase in dissolved oxygen levels,” he said.
Skate research program leader and co-author Professor Jayson Semmens said the findings make them “cautiously optimistic” but stressed there is still a long road ahead.
“Only continued monitoring of the Maugean skate population in Macquarie Harbour will allow us to know the long-term trajectory of recovery of this endangered species,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has suggested that the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is blocking a “common sense solution” for the salmon industry.
In a letter to Salmon Tasmania, he pledged to introduce legislation to ensure “appropriate environmental laws are in place to continue sustainable salmon farming”.
“My commitment to you, your employees, suppliers and the community is that salmon farming operations on Macquarie Harbour will continue and that no jobs will be lost,” Albanese said.
Business, Industry and Resources Minister Eric Abetz has now called on anti-salmon activist groups to “accept what the science is telling us and desist from spreading baseless misinformation”.
“Today’s news from reputable researchers is in complete contrast to the misinformation spread by the fear-for-profit brigade,” he said.
“Their fearmongering has come to the detriment of hard-working Tasmanians, a passionate and committed industry, world class scientists and the West Coast community and this needs to stop.”
