Tassal fight begins in court

OPPONENTS of the Federal Government’s approval of Tassal’s Okehampton Bay fish farm say the salmon giant and Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg did not disclose relevant information during the approval process.

Triabunna Investments and Spring Bay Mill have allied with the Bob Brown Foundation to pursue court action against Mr Frydenberg.

The companies, owned by Wotif.com founder Graeme Wood, are developing the former Triabunna woodchip mill site next to Tassal’s proposed shore base.

When the hearing began in the Federal Court yesterday, lawyer for the applicant Brian Walters said Mr Frydenberg did not consult properly when parts of Tassal’s application were changed.

Mr Walters said this included potential impacts of noise, the use of barges, technology in pens and even the potential impacts on the southern right whale.

Mr Frydenberg’s representative rejected the arguments.

A Tassal representative yesterday told the court two mortality events at Okehampton Bay had dropped its harvest predictions to 670,000 as opposed to 720,000.

The company later put out a statement saying there was one mortality — understood to be around 25,000 to 30,000 — caused by human error with the other “rather a balance of mortalities that occurred over an extended period”.

The hearing before Justice Duncan Kerr continues today.