Australian government maintains approval for salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour.
The Albanese government has reaffirmed a 2012 decision allowing salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania, despite objections from environmental groups citing risks to the endangered Maugean skate.
Environment minister Murray Watt confirmed the decision in letters to three organisations, including the Bob Brown Foundation and the Australia Institute, following the passage earlier this year of amendments to Australia’s environmental laws designed to protect the salmon industry. The amendments limit the scope for reconsidering long-standing developments deemed to be under state or territory oversight.
Watt said all relevant information had been considered and cited government funding for oxygenation measures in the harbour as part of efforts to protect the species.
The Maugean skate has been listed as endangered since 2004, with scientific assessments in recent years warning of critically low population levels and identifying salmon farming as a contributor to reduced dissolved oxygen in the harbour. Industry surveys have indicated partial recovery since a decline in the previous decade.
