Page 1 of 1

Assault on Storm Bay

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 2:31 pm
by Matt Flynn
Hobart's Derwent River mouth already has some of the most polluted sediments in the world thanks to industrial waste being allowed to be dumped there in years past.

Storm Bay lies outside the Derwent mouth. Will it become a marine desert because of poor management of salmon farming?

One salmon company, Huon Aquaculture, is opposed to the intensity of stocking being allowed, an odd situation indeed when industry asks for restrictions.

I just received the text below from Environment Tasmania ... looks to me that the Tasmanian government is pushing stocking to the limit at Storm Bay just as has been done in Macquarie Harbour. And they have allowed it on the East Coast in a holiday fishing area.

STARTS

The government’s so-called ‘independent review’ has started 3 days of hearings on the largest single increase to the size of industrial salmon farming in Tasmanian history. All three Tasmanian salmon companies are applying to grow a combined maximum of 80,000 tonnes of salmon in Storm Bay, the gateway to Hobart.

That’s more than the industry currently produces around the entire state – and in just one bay, taking the industry one major step closer to its goal of doubling salmon tonnage around Tasmania’s coasts by 2030. In one year, 80,000 tonnes of salmon will dump around 12,960 tonnes of faeces in Storm Bay.

And Storm Bay’s looking pretty crowded, with a hair’s breadth between the proposed 2,266 hectares of salmon zones and commercial shipping lanes, recreational boating corridors, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race route and Abalone, Rock Lobster and Scalefish fisheries.

The first map shows the new salmon farming leases and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race route; the second marks commercial shipping lanes and recreational boating corridors.

Storm Bay and the Upper Derwent are home to numerous endangered species vulnerable to the impacts of salmon farming, including White-bellied Sea Eagles, Long-Nosed Fur Seals, Spotted Handfish and Southern Right Whales. Extended seasonal residencies of both Southern Right Whales and Blue Whales have been recorded in the last ten years and whales pass through Storm Bay to reach Frederick Henry Bay, an important calving and socialising area.

Each salmon company assures us that the impact they will have on rare and protected species will be minimal. But no one is considering the cumulative impacts – that their large development is adding to other developments that are rapidly industrialising the ocean and changing endangered species habitat for good. Failure to consider cumulative impacts is one reason why Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinction in the world.

One of the salmon producers themselves even says Storm Bay is going too far. Huon Aquaculture have raised questions about how this tonnage in the Bay can be scientifically justified, given international best-practice requires at least a 10km buffer between salmon farms for biosecurity reasons, and Storm Bay would be so crowded there would be just 4km between some operators.

Scientists from the Derwent Estuary Program have raised concerns that the rapid increase in feed and faeces in Storm Bay will impact oxygen levels in the Derwent, increasing the risk of algal blooms that will negatively impact seagrass beds.

Unfortunately, the Review Panel set up to advise Government on salmon lease approvals is far from independent. Positions are appointed by the Minister and the Panel was stripped of its independent powers in 2011. The last time the Panel denied a salmon expansion request, the scientist involved, Dr Lois Koehnken, was asked not to reapply for her position.

Will you join the chorus of community groups in Tasmania asking the Minster to fix the dodgy governance processes that ticked and flicked the disaster in Macquarie Harbour?

80,000 tonnes of salmon is too much for one Bay. Tell the Minister not to tick and flick any more risky industrial salmon developments in endangered species habitat.

ENDS

Re: Assault on Storm Bay

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 3:53 pm
by Jeno
Wow.....should be able to catch some stonker cat fish there....because that is the only thing that will be there!