A Fish Farms Out of Our Bays snap rally on August 11 brought together several hundred opponents of the Environmental Protection Authority’s recent decision to renew licences for 16 salmon farms, for up to two years, on the Tasman Peninsula.
The protest was supported by the Bob Brown Foundation, the Tasmanian Greens and community groups, including the Cremorne Ocean Dippers and Neighbours of Fish Farming.
Speakers included Alistair Allan, from the Bob Brown Foundation; Trish Baily, vice president of the Tasmanian Alliance of Marine Protection; independent MP Peter George; and Tasmanian Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff.
Serious warnings from scientific experts, and Parliament’s fin fish inquiry, have prompted widespread public opposition to salmon farming in Tasmania.
An online repository, salmonbusters.org, helps Tasmanians track the extent and impact of salmon farming. More than 60 leases are run by three subsidiaries of large foreign-owned multinationals. They consist of hundreds of pens, holding more than 100,000 tonnes of salmon.
These farms use 20% of Tasmania’s fresh water and treat disease in farmed salmon with more than 31.4 tonnes of antibiotics. They release more than 4800 tonnes of nitrogen pollution per year.
