Hundreds of anti-salmon activists took to the waters off Cremorne Beach on Sunday in a mass protest against plans to expand fish farming operations into Storm Bay.
The ‘paddle-out’ was organised by South Arm community group Friends of the Bays in response to a proposal from Petuna to install up to 50 large open-net pens off Yellow Bluff.
Conservationists have raised alarms over the plan, arguing it would encroach on Frederick Henry Bay, the sole remaining habitat of the critically endangered red handfish.
They say allowing fish farms in Storm Bay could impact the handfish in the same way the Maugean skate has been in Macquarie Harbour.
Greens MP Tabatha Badger said the waterways of southern Tasmania needed to be kept “pristine” for future generations.
“Community groups, surfers, fishers and families all stood united against an industry no one wants and the area definitely doesn’t need,” she said.
“The dispute over keeping our waterways healthy has gone on too long.”
“It’s past time the Liberals respected the calls of Tasmanian communities, halted the expansion of fish farms and stopped gifting our precious waterways to large, destructive corporations.”
Minister Roger Jaensch said any new fish farming areas are “subject to rigorous marine farming planning processes and rigorous independent environmental assessments”.
“The truth is the Maugean skate would be a threatened species if there was farming in the harbour or not, simply by the fact that that’s the only place it lives,” he said.
Jaensch said the Liberals will continue to back the salmon industry.
“It’s disappointing but not unexpected that the Greens will take any opportunity to stir up community concerns and make people fearful of what might be happening in their backyard or at their favourite beach,” he said.
“We have the processes in place to ensure that we’re looking after the environment, that we’re providing certainty in the process for the industry to invest with confidence where it is safe for it to do so.”
