2024-08-16
The Albanese government must heed new advice from its own Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) and remove salmon farming from Macquarie Harbour, in order to save the Maugean skate from extinction.
Scientists haven’t minced their words – they’ve stated very clearly that the salmon industry will either need to be scaled back dramatically or removed entirely from Macquarie Harbour if the Maugean skate is to survive.
This is now the second time the Albanese government has been advised by the TSSC to make an extreme intervention to save the Maugean skate.
The new advice comes as the TSSC today invites public consultation on whether the status of the Maugean skate should be updated from endangered to critically endangered under national environment law.
Quotes attributable to Greens Senator for lutruwita/Tasmania, Peter Whish-Wilson:
“How many times do scientists need to raise the alarm before the Minister acts?
“Without action to remove salmon farming from the Maugean skate’s wild and natural environment, the government appears content to consign the endangered prehistoric species to an aquarium.
“The viability of salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour has been drastically overstated to the West Coast community by the salmon farming industry. Science has identified Macquarie Harbour as an unsuitable place for the scale of salmon farming that is currently operating there – clearly efforts should be focused on transitioning workers into more sustainable industries.
“It’s unconscionable to think that the Albanese government would rather deceive Tasmanians about jobs in an unsustainable and toxic salmon industry than prevent the avoidable extinction of an entire species in its only wild habitat.
“The Albanese government now has a critical moral and political decision to make: will it heed the advice of its own expert Threatened Species Scientific Committee, or protect the profits of foreign-owned salmon companies?”