Salmon farm. (Photo: Tassal)

Another salmon farm caused harm to Macquire Harbour, a study found

AUSTRALIA
Thursday, May 25, 2017, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

A new report on the health status of Macquarie Harbour, on Tasmania's west coast, reveals that a second aquaculture lease operated by Tassal  has caused an environmental decline in the zone in January.

The report, released by the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), looked at dissolved oxygen levels and the recovery of marine life in the harbour in the three months until the end of March, ABC reported.

The impact of salmon farming has been under close scrutiny since Huon Aquaculture's Frances Bender warned of a looming environmental crisis in the harbour.

In February, Tassal was ordered to completely de-stock its farming lease closest to the World Heritage Area (WHA) because low oxygen levels had created a so-called 'dead zone' under one of the massive salmon leases belonging to the company.

The new IMAS report said there was a further decline in the abundance of fauna found in the sediment under another lease owned by Tassal.

The report found improved oxygen levels in the harbour were encouraging but warned similar improvements were seen early last year and concentrations fell to extremely low levels six months later.

Last month, Tassal said its scientists had found a "dramatic environmental improvement" in its Macquarie Harbour leases. The company said its in-house surveys showed it had complied with lease conditions regarding impact on marine life and the results had gone to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) for assessment.

A firm’s spokesperson claimed the challenges associated with Macquarie Harbour have been taken extremely seriously.

On the other hand, Environment Tasmania's Laura Kelly said the IMAS report showed two of Tassal's leases in Macquarie Harbour were dead zones in January this year. Therefore she highlighted that the he EPA, which is due to release its decision next week on how many fish can be farmed in the harbour, should look carefully at the report.

"This report by no means shows that Tassal should be allowed to pump thousands more tonnes of faeces back into the harbour," she warned.

In an interim decision, the EPA reduced the amount of fish allowed in the harbour to 12,000 tonnes but will allow companies to exceed the limit if they trial a waste capture program under pens.

Meanwhile, Huon Aquaculture's Bender said it was encouraging to see the harbour's oxygen levels in the IMAS report had improved.

"The overarching trend of what shows up in the IMAS report is sadly ... the harbour is still in a parlous state," she said.

For his part, EPA director Wes Ford said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on the final biomass before he had considered all the submissions from the companies.
 

Related articles:

- Tassal may lose ASC certification
- Tassal to trial waste collection system in Macquarie
- Tassal’s statements on Macquarie improvements sound unconvincing to authorities

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