Fish farm fights back

Attack on pollution in estuary ‘baseless’

ONE of Tasmania’s largest aquaculture businesses has hit back at“defamatory” claims its practices are destroying the environment.

Huon Valley-based group Neighbours of Fish Farming called on salmon producers Huon Aquaculture and Tassal to leave the region before it was “completely destroyed by their reckless practices”.

President Peter George, also Tasmanian Alliance for Marine Protection co-chairman, released footage showing a clear reef at Lady Bay in 2014 compared with a dying reef at Huon Island filmed on November3.

Lady Bay and Huon Island are about 16 km apart.

“Huon Aquaculture and T ass al licences demand no visible impact to marine life more than 35 metres from their leases yetHu on Islandi sat least two kilometres away from the nearest fish farm,” Mr George said.

“Marine life in the Huon and its estuary is being smothered, fish life is disappearing and the reefs are becoming dead zones all because of the salmon industry and all in breach of the rules.

“The truth is Tasmanian salmon is not clean and green, it’ s dirty and destructive—and we’ll ensure that truth is going to get out to Australian consumers.”

Huon Aquaculture executive director Frances Bender rejected the “unsubstantiated, baselessclaims”.

“Our company has been successfully farming in the Huon River and Lower Channel for 35 years, and Storm Bay for the past six years, underpinned by extensive independent monitoring and research such as Broadscape Environmental Monitoring Program and provision of monthly data to the state government.

BEMP reports are publicly available,” she said.

Ms Bender said the company stood by 35 years of robust research, monitoring and data collection that had been independently reviewed by marine organisations such as IMASandCSIRO.

“These continued anecdotal, defamatory, baseless at

tacks on the most important agribusiness in this state directly threatens the livelihoods of our 800 permanent, skilled staff and their families — most of whom live in regional Tasmania ,” she said.

“I am proud to defend the region and the waterways in which I was born and raised by my family, and to defend those

hundreds of staff and families that also care deeply about their region, their jobs and the environment.”

Tassal declined to comment.

The EPA said it was working with IMAS to assess nutrient loads in the Huon River andD’ Ent re cast eaux Channel.