Eight conservation groups have sent an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, urging him to reconsider the commitments he recently made to protect salmon farming interests in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbor.
Conservationists said they are particularly concerned about the endangered Maugean skate, a ray-like fish that has inhabited the harbor – its only habitat – for millenia. The skate has been the center of widespread criticism of salmon farming by environmental groups, who blame aquacluture for the species' decline.
The groups claim Albanese’s letter to the salmon industry came in response to significant lobbying by the sector, amid reports from the scientific community that identify aquaculture in the harbor as one of the most significant threats to the Maugean skate.
A 2024 report commissioned by the federal government estimated that there were between 40 and 120 adult skates left in the wild, and stated that lowered oxygen levels in the area, which were to blame for the decline, could be correlated to salmon farming.
"There is a significant correlation between reduction in dissolved oxygen levels and increases in salmonid aquaculture due to fish respiration and the bacterial degradation of organic material introduced into the water column from fish-feed and fish-waste," the study states.
However, another study by the University of Tasmania recently found there has been a recent upward trend in the abundance of the Maugean skate in the harbor, and said there's potentially signs the wild population of the species has been improving to levels not seen since 2014.
Albanese attempted to quell industry fears with a letter to salmon-farming stakeholders promising that he would protect salmon farming in Macquarie Harbor.
"My commitment to you, your employees, suppliers and the community is that salmon farming operations on Macquarie Harbour will continue and that no jobs will be lost," he wrote, according to ABC news.
The conservationists’ letter to Albanese argued that any introduction of special legislation for the salmon industry would amount to “effectively overriding our national nature laws, disregarding Austalia’s international obligations under the World Heritage Convention, and setting a dangerous precedent that could place threatened species from across the country at an even greater risk of extinction.”
The letter also claimed the Maugean skate is not only important from a biological perspective, but from an economic and cultural one, too. The conservationists said that “the livelihoods of thousands of Tasmanians … are dependent on the Tasmanian brand,” and that Australia was obligated to protect its natural environment to protect its appeal as a tourist destination and Wilderness World Heritage Area.
It also argued that special legislation to protect salmon farming would increase the likelihood of requests from other corporate interests for similar legislation.
“Today, it is the Maugean skate on the chopping block, tomorrow it could be the majestic Gouldian Finch in Australia’s north or the beautiful Orange Bellied Parrot in Australia’s south,” the letter states.
Salmon farming in the area is also facing a review from Australian Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek, who was examining whether the decision to allow aquaculture the harbor was legally sound.
Executives at Tassal Group, Huon Aquaculture, and Petuna Seafood all wrote a letter saying Plibersek should end that effort, and pushed Albanese to follow through on his commitment to protect salmon farming.
“We are ready, willing and able to lend any support necessary for the bill to be put before parliament and request this occurs urgently, prior to calling the federal election,” they wrote, according to The Guardian.
Salmon Tasmania, an advocacy group for the salmon industry in the harbor, has repeatedly asserted the industry has operated responsibly and to all regulations within the harbor. It also pointed out the industry has worked to find solutions to the dissolved oxygen issues in the bay – regardless of their cause.
