Testing is underway to identify mysterious “foul-smelling chunks” that washed up on a beach in the Huon Valley over the weekend.
Locals discovered the unidentified material at Verona Sands beach, just east of Huon Island, an area surrounded by salmon farms where antibiotics are currently in use, on Sunday.
A spokesperson for Huon Aquaculture said they sent a “crew of more than 20 team members” to clean the shoreline after being alerted to the discovery.
“We can confirm that it was not fish feed that washed up on the shoreline, they said.
“But we are taking the matter extremely seriously and have sent samples for testing.”
The incident has prompted environmental groups to question who is responsible.
Neighbours of Fishfarming said they were concerned the “foul-smelling chunks” were fatty, diseased salmon carcasses and have reported the find to the Environment Protection Authority.
“The smell was terrible and locals are not happy,” they said.
The Bob Brown Foundation too believes the images show “remnants of dead fish”.
According to Huon, a follow-up inspection on Monday morning revealed no additional material washed ashore.
