Just 24 hours after The Australia Institute exposed the salmon lobby’s lies in the debate over fish farming in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, more misinformation has been spread by those with a vested interest.
The representative of the three large, foreign-owned salmon farmers in the Apple Isle has made many claims about the economic impact of moving fish farms out of Macquarie Harbour. The research behind those claims remains secret.
The Australia Institute challenges those making unsubstantiated claims to a debate about what needs to be done in Macquarie Harbour.
“It’s time to start calling out the lies, exaggeration and misinformation,” said Eloise Carr, Director, Australia Institute Tasmania.
“It’s factually incorrect to describe the industry in Macquarie Harbour as ‘small.’ Currently, 9,500 tonnes of salmon and trout come out of the harbour annually. The amount of nitrogen pollution this contribute to the harbour is the same as the sewage discharged from a city the size of Hobart.
“Dumping the equivalent of Hobart’s worth of sewage in a World Heritage-listed harbour has consequences. And the best-known is the impact on the endangered Maugean skate, a stingray-like creature that has been around since the dinosaurs and lives nowhere else in the world.
“The science could not be clearer: fish farming is the primary threat to the skate. That’s what Australia’s top scientists are telling us.
“The Tasmanian Government has a track record of ignoring problems until they blow up and this is no exception. It’s embarrassing. It’s now up to the Australian government, specifically the Environment Minister, if they want to keep ignoring the facts or take action to actually regulate the harmful impacts of this industry.”
