Industry lobby Salmon Tasmania to contribute to Maugean skate conservation

Salmon Tasmania chief executive officer Luke Martin said the three Tasmanian fish farming groups - Tassal, Huon Aquaculture and Petuna Seafoods - had agreed to contribute the additional funds to the government's joint Maugean Skate Conservation Plan, on top of earlier funding of $500,000 towards research efforts.

Scientists from the University of Tasmania's Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies published a study earlier this year that documented a 47 per cent drop in Maugean skate numbers in Macquarie Harbour between 2014 and 2021.

Salmon farmers in the area "care deeply about the marine environment" and are determined to secure the future of the skate, Mr Martin said.

'It is fair to say the salmon industry has done the heavy lifting and will continue to take a lead role in supporting research to understand why the Skate population has declined, firstly in Bathurst Harbour, and now Macquarie Harbour," he said.

"But it's important other industries and stakeholders with a long-term presence in the harbour are also invested in the solutions."

He urged other Tasmanian industries with a long-term presence in Macquarie Harbour to make similar financial commitments to protect the species and bring it back from the edge of extinction.

The major river tributaries into the harbour both have hydroelectric power schemes controlling catchment discharge.

Scientists have linked the decline of Maugean skate in Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast to declining dissolved oxygen levels in the area.

Activists say this is caused by human activity, including fish farms, and have called for an end to all fish farming in the Harbour.

Greens leader Dr Rosalie Woodruff said one warm summer could drive Maugean skate to extinction.

"The scientific evidence is clear: salmon farming is the key threat to the Maugean skate," she said last month.

"The number one action that must be taken urgently is to remove all fish farming from Macquarie Harbour," said Lisa Litjens, vice-president of anti-salmon industry group Neighbours of Fish Farming.

But Mr Martin said the decline in skate numbers could be due to other factors as well, such as activities by Hydro Tasmania and commercial and recreational fishing.

"The scientists and stakeholders sitting in the room understand there are a complex range of factors influencing the Macquarie Harbour environment, and potentially the skate population," Mr Martin said.

"It is plain wrong and threatens the survival of the skate, to focus myopically on one factor, or one industry.

"Salmon production in Macquarie Harbour has more than halved over the past five years.

"Yet we know this has not led to any material improvement in the dissolved oxygen levels in the harbour that is so critical to the skate and other wildlife.

"It is also now well widely accepted the species has most likely disappeared from Bathurst Harbour, where there is no industry whatsoever," Mr Martin said.

He said salmon has been farmed in Macquarie Harbour for over 30-years and the industry is directly responsible for 17 per cent of all jobs on the West Coast.

"The salmon farmers who live and work around Macquarie Harbour care deeply about the marine environment and are determined to secure the future of the skate."

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