AMSC argues Tasmanian salmon farming sector is exercising too much pressure on the environment and too fast.

Conservation group recommends not eating Tasmanian farmed salmon

AUSTRALIA
Tuesday, October 23, 2018, 00:50 (GMT + 9)

A conservation group has been downgraded Australian Atlantic salmon from an Amber, "Think Twice" rating to a Red, "Say-No," following a comprehensive scientific assessment of the ecological impact of Tasmanian salmon farms. This measure has been rejected by Tasmanian Salmonid Growers Association (TSGA), which deemed this decision as "misinformed and irresponsible."

The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) announced that, based on the data of a "thorough scinetific assessment," has updated the Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide, an independent consumer guide to choosing seafood wisely.

“If done sustainably, fish-farming can provide an important source of seafood for Australians. It is unfortunate that the scientific evidence has led to a sustainability downgrade of Atlantic Salmon in the latest review of the Guide, particularly as the salmon farming industry was heading in the right direction until recent years,” claimed Adrian Meder, Sustainable Seafood Program Manager at the AMCS.

However, TSGA claims the salmon industry has been asking the AMCS for 5 years to visit the industry in Tasmania to see first hand what is happening but made it clear it was to no avail and to provide details of the criteria it is applying against all the sector’s operations.

“Being silent on the criteria raises questions about AMCS transparency with its stakeholders,” it was warned from the TSGA.

Meder clarified that in the past three years fish farming has had serious impacts on sensitive marine habitats and threatened species, particularly in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, pointing out that the salmon farming industry bears significant responsibility for the environmental impacts in the Harbour, and needs to clean up its act.

AMSC manager explains that fish farming has reached such intensity in Macquarie Harbour that there have been consecutive summers of serious environmental impacts, including several massive fish kills and there have been dangerously low oxygen levels in deeper harbour waters, over a million fish have been lost due to asphyxiation and disease, and "dead zones" have formed on the seafloor, which he deems as a serious failure in management, Meder denounces

False colour Landsat image centred on Macquarie Harbour, looking northwest, draped over digital elevation model with x2 vertical exaggeration; screen capture from the NASA World Wind

“The salmon farms are operating right next to a wilderness World Heritage Area, where farming should be managed to protect the values of the area. But dead zones were found even within this protected World Heritage region,” stresses Meder.

In his view, it is incumbent on the Tasmanian Government to ensure the fish farming industry does not harm the environment if it is to have a sustainable future in the state.

The salmon farming companies have expansion plans in place to dramatically increase salmon farming production.

Photo: Tasmanian Salmonid Growers Association Ltd. 

“We call on the industry to listen to the concerns of the Australian public and to ensure future farming operations are done in a more sustainable way,” says Meder.

Referring to ASMC scientific assessment, TSGA CEO Dr Adam Main said it failed to factor in substantial improvements and investments made by all three companies during the past 12-months, which have demonstrated environmental improvements.

“All companies in the industry in Tasmania aspire for the highest standards of certification wherever possible and are recognised globally for achieving these. In fact 100 per cent of the Tasmanian salmon industry is certified by a myriad of national and international environmental and sustainability programs,” Main explains.

The representative of the industry also argues there was a great deal of misinformation regarding the issue in the public domain and was disappointed to hear the AMCS state. In this sense, he argues that it had been in contact with lobby groups against the industry in Tasmania – whilst not adequately consulting with the industry or independent peak science bodies.

 
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