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NOFF is astonished by a statement issued by Tasmanian senator, Anne Urquhart today that the Tasmanian salmon industry is receiving millions of dollars in subsidies in an effort to restore Macquarie Harbour, despite being the major cause of the collapse of the waterway's health.
Having heard you speak on ABC radio in Hobart on Thursday, It seems that any new regime of "transparency" on the part of the regulator is a hope in vain.
Incredibly, the D'Entrecasteaux Channel has been condemned to another five destructive years by Tassal's huge feedlots that have devastated the marine life of an iconic Australian waterway.
Activists have captured footage of thousands of dead salmon being pumped out of Tassal's Okehampton Bay industrial fish farms. Also seen on the surface were rotting dead fish, partially eaten fish and algae. With a marine heatwave warning currently issued for the East Coast of Tasmania this may be the cause of the die-off.
Respected broadcaster and UK RSPCA president Chris Packham is reported in The Guardian saying a moratorium is needed as mortality rates jump, while activists question the RSPCA's role in certifying farms.
NOFF welcomes the latest intervention by Federal MP, Andrew Wilkie, in the controversial Atlantic salmon industry in Tasmania. Information in Mr Wilkie's hands would appear to support NOFF's consistent position that the government and regulator have been captured by the industry and have utterly failed to protect Tasmania from the salmon industry's...
"There is nothing "responsible" about intensively farming fin fish in Macquarie Harbour," said Jess Coughlan, campaigner at NOFF, "given the history of environmental damage, due largely to a massive expansion of industry, which will take years to repair. The most responsible action that can be taken right now is to remove salmon and trout farms...
Australia has mandated all its hospitality venues must display the country of origin of the seafood they serve, but have failed to adopt NOFF's recommendation to require specification of wild caught or farmed.
