Latest news with #Maugeanskate
NZ Herald
29-04-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
Dead salmon create general election stink in Tasmania, Australia
But in the warm, summer temperatures, a bacterium had taken hold in some of the salmon pens. 'What I saw was little chunks, the size of small plums, and they were scattered the entire length of the beach,' said Jess Coughlin, a campaigner with community group Neighbours of Fish Farming. When she sought advice to identify the mystery morsels, a diver who had worked in fish farms told her the industry referred to them as popcorn. 'It's a common occurrence when the fish are left dead in the pens for a number of days and they start to rot and break down,' Coughlin told AFP. Rotting fish At first, the dead salmon sink. 'The flesh and fat pull away from the body and, because of the pressure of the water and the wave action, as it makes its way up to the surface it clumps into these balls.' Dead salmon falling apart within pens where fish are still being grown for human consumption is 'incredibly disturbing', she said. Tasmania's environmental regulator described the die-off in salmon pens in the area – the D'Entrecasteaux Channel – as an 'unprecedented salmon mortality event'. The state's chief veterinary officer Kevin de Witte reported that in the warm, summer waters, the fish had been infected with an endemic bacterium, Piscirickettsia salmonis. ' P. salmonis fish bacterium does not grow in humans and do not present a human or animal health, or food safety risk,' he said. Industry body Salmon Tasmania said the microbe had devastated some farms in the area, and operators worked around the clock to clean up the mess and keep fish healthy. 'Catastrophe' 'While industry always does its utmost to raise healthy fish, just like all animals and primary producers, salmon and our farms are not immune to the vagaries of our natural environment,' it said. Some estimates put the number of dead salmon in the millions, said the Bob Brown Foundation, named after its co-founder, an environmentalist and former lawmaker. 'This catastrophe is not just a 'natural vagary',' the foundation said. 'This is the direct result of excessive nitrogen pollution, overstocking of pens, corrupt governance and a consequent failure to regulate, all directly attributable to the foreign-owned salmon corporations' endless greed.' The salmon industry is notably blamed for threatening the existence of the endangered Maugean skate, a species of ray that grows to about the length of an adult person's arm. An estimated 4100 Maugean skates remain in the world, and fewer than 120 of them are old enough to reproduce, according to the Australian Marine Conservation Society. They are found only in western Tasmania's Macquarie Harbour, which is also home to about 10% of the state's salmon industry. Official advice to the Federal Government in November 2023 said it may have to reconsider the industry's legality – and eventually even suspend its operations – because of scientific findings of an 'increased extinction risk' to the skates. 'Anger and distress' Less than six weeks before the elections, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Government intervened to block that possibility, saying it had to protect jobs. Parliament adopted a law curbing the Environment Minister's power to review years-old rulings – effectively shielding the Macquarie Bay salmon farmers. But the bay only represents 10% of Tasmania's salmon industry and it is a gateway to rural tourism, the environmentalist Bob Brown told AFP in the weeks leading up to the election. 'There's a mood of anger and distress that I haven't seen for decades and it's getting stronger and there's a lot of young people involved and it's very heartening,' Brown said. Some candidates in Tasmania are campaigning to bring a halt to salmon farming operations based in the open sea. 'I think there will be a bigger vote away from the big parties,' Brown said. 'I think the vote against them will be a record.'
France 24
29-04-2025
- General
- France 24
Dead salmon create election stink on Australian island
When the stinky remains landed in Verona Sands, population 131, they stirred up a festering environment-versus-industry row shortly before Saturday's general elections. The fish remnants found in February were traced to a mass die-off from vast, circular salmon farming pens set up in the waters of the surrounding Tasman Sea estuary. The Tasmanian fish farming industry produces 75,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon a year -- 90 percent of Australia's total output. But in the warm, summer temperatures, a bacterium had taken hold in some of the salmon pens. "What I saw was little chunks, the size of small plums, and they were scattered the entire length of the beach," said Jess Coughlin, a campaigner with community group Neighbours of Fish Farming. When she sought advice to identify the mystery morsels, a diver who had worked in fish farms told her the industry referred to them as popcorn. "It's a common occurrence when the fish are left dead in the pens for a number of days and they start to rot and break down," Coughlin told AFP. Rotting salmon At first, the dead salmon sink. "The flesh and fat pull away from the body and, because of the pressure of the water and the wave action, as it makes its way up to the surface it clumps into these balls." Dead salmon falling apart within pens where fish are still being grown for human consumption is "incredibly disturbing", she said. Tasmania's environmental regulator described the die-off in salmon pens in the area -- the D'Entrecasteaux Channel -- as an "unprecedented salmon mortality event". The state's chief veterinary officer, Kevin de Witte, reported that in the warm, summer waters, the fish had been infected with an endemic bacterium, Piscirickettsia salmonis. "P. salmonis fish bacterium does not grow in humans and do not present a human or animal health, or food safety risk," he assured people. Industry body Salmon Tasmania said the microbe had devastated some farms in the area, and operators worked around the clock to clean up the mess and keep fish healthy. 'Catastrophe' "While industry always does its utmost to raise healthy fish, just like all animals and primary producers, salmon and our farms are not immune to the vagaries of our natural environment," it said. Some estimates put the number of dead salmon in the millions, said the Bob Brown Foundation, named after its co-founder, an environmentalist and former lawmaker. "This catastrophe is not just a 'natural vagary'," the foundation said. "This is the direct result of excessive nitrogen pollution, overstocking of pens, corrupt governance and a consequent failure to regulate, all directly attributable to the foreign-owned salmon corporations' endless greed." The salmon industry is notably blamed for threatening the existence of the endangered Maugean skate, a species of ray that grows to about the length of an adult person's arm. An estimated 4,100 Maugean skates remain in the world, and fewer than 120 of them are old enough to reproduce, according to the Australian Marine Conservation Society. They are found only in western Tasmania's Macquarie Harbour, which is also home to about 10 percent of the state's salmon industry. Official advice to the federal government in November 2023 said it may have to reconsider the industry's legality -- and eventually even suspend its operations -- due to scientific findings of an "increased extinction risk" to the skates. 'Anger and distress' Less than six weeks before the elections, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government intervened to block that possibility, saying it had to protect jobs. Parliament adopted a law curbing the environment minister's power to review years-old rulings -- effectively shielding the Macquarie Bay salmon farmers. But the bay only represents 10 percent of Tasmania's salmon industry and it is a gateway to rural tourism, the environmentalist Bob Brown told AFP in the weeks leading up to the election. "There's a mood of anger and distress that I haven't seen for decades and it's getting stronger and there's a lot of young people involved and it's very heartening," Brown said. Some candidates in Tasmania are campaigning to bring a halt to salmon farming operations based in the open sea. "I think there will be a bigger vote away from the big parties," Brown predicted. "I think the vote against them will be a record." © 2025 AFP
The Guardian
06-04-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Is eating farmed salmon worth snuffing out 40m years of Tasmanian evolution?
Australia is justly famous as a place where ancient species, long extinct elsewhere, live on. After aeons of adversity, Australia's living fossils often survive only in protected habitats: the Wollemi, Huon and King Billy pines, the Queensland lungfish and even the Tasmanian devil (which thrived on the mainland at the same time as the Egyptians were building the pyramids) are good examples. Such species are a source of wonder for anyone interested in the living world and they should serve as a source of hope that, given half a chance, even ancient, slow-changing species can survive periods of dramatic climate change. Australia's largest repository of living fossils is arguably the cool, shallow marine waters off its southern coastline. Despite that fact that most of us enjoy a swim, snorkel or walk on the beach, the biological importance of our shallow temperate seas is almost entirely unrecognised. In 1996 Tasmania's spotted handfish became the first marine fish to be listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Found only around the Derwent River estuary, this 10cm-long Tasmanian has a cute, froggy face and hand-like fins, which it uses to 'walk' across the sea floor. There are only 14 species of handfish, and all are restricted to the cool waters off southern Australia. Most have limited distributions, several are endangered and a few are known from just a single example. But what is truly surprising about handfish is that they were once widespread. A 50m-year-old fossil was unearthed in the Italian alps. So, like the platypus and Huon pine, handfish are relics, clinging precariously to life in Australia's cool southern waters. The Maugean skate, also known as the 'thylacine of the sea', has become famous because it is endangered by salmon farming. It is also a living fossil, found only in the tannin-rich waters of Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania's west coast. The Maugean skate's relatives inhabit shallow marine waters around New Zealand and Patagonia, indicating that the species is a relic from the time, about 40m years ago, when Australia, Antarctica and South America were joined together to form Gondwana. Its predicament is forcing ordinary Australians to ask whether it's right to snuff out 40m years of evolution for a salmon bagel. The bell clapper shell, found only in the shallow waters off Australia's south-west, is a third and most surprising relic. These long and narrow chalky white shells, shaped like the clapper of a bell, remain common enough that you have a fair chance of finding a sea-washed example on a beach walk anywhere between Perth and Esperance. Yet it is a living fossil with a truly exotic history. When workers were constructing the sewers of Paris in the 19th century, they often came across fossil bell clapper shells, some of which were up to a metre long. Right across the world, from Europe to eastern Australia, bell clapper fossils abound. Yet only in Western Australia's south-west can living examples still be seen. Handfish, Maugean skates and bell clapper shells are just three charismatic species among a plethora of smaller and less spectacular marine species that have found refuge in the cool waters off southern Australia. Today the great juggernaut of climate breakdown threatens to extinguish their entire habitat. The heating caused by our emissions of greenhouse gases is not distributed evenly. The oceans are absorbing 90% of the heat trapped by the greenhouse gases, and the high latitudes are warming faster than areas closer to the equator. Catastrophic changes are unfolding. Giant kelp once abounded in the shallows off eastern Tasmania. So great is the biodiversity found in groves of giant kelp that Charles Darwin called them the rainforests of the sea. Due to warming waters, in most places it's nothing but a memory. When the kelp vanishes, so does the biodiversity. Problems of simple warming are compounded by the migration of the long-spined sea urchin, which is spreading southwards as waters warm. Without the strongest efforts to eliminate greenhouse gases, it can't be long before the first of southern Australia's marine living fossils wink out. The survival of Australia's living fossils is a source of wonder and hope for me. The fact that platypus, which are little changed for 100m years, continue to survive in creeks and rivers near the largest Australian metropolises helps calm my worst fears about our future. And, while I may never see one in the wild, knowing that spotted handfish continue to walk the bay floor near the Hobart casino brings joy to my soul. I continue to believe that once Australians realise what is at stake, they will act to protect our extraordinary biodiversity. There is no doubt that good climate policy is facing a Trumpian apocalypse. Yet, like our living fossils, some bold initiatives survive, among them Andrew Forrest's 'real zero' target by 2030 for his iron ore mines. If an energy-hungry iron ore miner operating in a remote corner of Australia can abolish all use of fossil fuels in the next five years, why can't we all? Prof Tim Flannery is one of Australia's foremost climate change experts, an internationally recognised scientist, explorer and conservationist. He was named Australian of the Year in 2007 and is chief councillor of the Climate Council. He is also is a board member of Minderoo Foundation, Andrew Forrest's philanthropic vehicle
The Guardian
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Why does Leonardo DiCaprio care so much about Australian wildlife?
When a fiery parliament debate erupted this week about Tasmania's salmon industry, support for the endangered fish at the centre of the fight – the Maugean skate – came from an unlikely corner. Hours before the Albanese government's controversial legislation to protect fish farming in the state's Macquarie Harbour passed on Wednesday, global star Leonardo DiCaprio weighed in. 'URGENT: This week the Australian government will decide the fate of Macquarie Harbour and has an opportunity to shut down destructive industrial non-native salmon farms, protecting the Maugean Skate,' he wrote in a post to his 60.4m Instagram followers. The shallow estuary off Tasmania's coast was one of the most important places in the world, DiCaprio said, and 'essential for the planet's overall health and the persistence of biodiversity'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The actor regularly uses his platform to post about conservation concerns in many places around the world – and it's not the first time he has highlighted the plight of Australia's threatened species. Earlier this month, he warned clearing in Western Australia's jarrah forests for bauxite mining, approved by the federal government, would affect species including the endangered woylie and the red-tailed black cockatoo. He has repeatedly raised awareness of threats to koalas, and last year, called on the Australian government to end native forest logging to protect the breeding habitat of the critically endangered swift parrot in Tasmania. He also drew attention to Guardian Australia reporting on land clearing in Queensland, writing in a post: 'Australia has the highest rate of mammalian extinctions in the world … The only way to protect the hundreds of threatened Australian forest species is to end native forest logging.' But how involved is the actor and conservationist in the decision to post on these topics to his personal profile? More than people might expect, according to scientist Janice Chanson, the Australasian manager of Re:wild, the conservation organisation co-founded by DiCaprio. 'He does 100% have the say on whether the post goes up,' Chanson said. 'He is very engaged and he is very informed.' Re:wild, which works on conservation projects around the world, was founded in 2021 when Global Wildlife Conservation, a scientist-led environment organisation based in the United States, merged with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. DiCaprio sits on Re:wild's board, whose membership includes Razan Al Mubarak, the current president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to Chanson, DiCaprio 'speaks to our CEO on a daily basis' and has attended many field trips. Re:wild has staff based in Australia, where it partners with other conservation organisations to support the creation of protected areas, land restoration and species recovery. The organisation regularly creates social media posts on local issues, which a US-based communications team passes on to DiCaprio 'to choose if he wants to engage on that particular topic', Chanson said. She said Re:wild's Australian work focuses on two goals: ending native forest logging and helping Australia meet its commitment to zero new extinctions. 'The Maugean skate is very much at the forefront of the zero extinction target,' she said. 'Australia has made that commitment. We're here to help Australia meet that commitment. Unfortunately what's happening to the Maugean skate is flying in the face of that.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion For months, Re:wild had been working to have the skate's Macquarie Harbour habitat declared a key biodiversity area, a global program that supports identification and conservation of the world's most important places for species habitats. It had posts prepared for a potential announcement. Then on 20 March, news broke that the Labor government planned to rush through legislation to protect salmon farming in the harbour, which threatens the skate's survival, in the final week of parliament. Chanson said Re:wild decided to bring its posts forward, publishing an urgent message on its own Instagram account, and the communications team asked DiCaprio if he would share it on his own page. 'The urgency came when we stressed it's in parliament right now,' she said. She only realised he had acted on the request '15 minutes after he had posted'. The federal government has faced criticism during this term for delays to promised environmental law reforms that a statutory review five years ago found were necessary in response to the failure by successive governments to protect Australia's unique wildlife and habitats. During debate over the Tasmanian legislation, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young waved a dead salmon in the Senate, accusing the government of selling out its environmental credentials for 'rotten, stinking extinction salmon' on the cusp of an election. The passing of the bill drew condemnation from environment groups and prompted dismay from the Labor Environment Action Network. As the federal election was formally called on Friday, former Greens leader Bob Brown said the environment had become 'the sleeper election issue, awakened by this week's uproar in parliament'. 'By ramming through protection for the polluting Atlantic salmon companies in Tasmania, both [Anthony] Albanese and [Peter] Dutton have catapulted the environment back into the headlines,' he said.
The Guardian
26-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Controversial bill to protect Tasmanian salmon industry passes despite environmental concerns
Controversial legislation to protect the Tasmanian salmon industry has passed parliament after the government guillotined debate to bring on a vote in the Senate on Wednesday night. Government and Coalition senators voted in favour of the bill, which was designed to bring an end to a formal reconsideration by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, into whether an expansion of fish farming in Macquarie harbour in 2012 was properly approved. It followed a fiery debate on Wednesday, during which the Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, waved a dead salmon in the Senate after asking if the government had sold out its environmental credentials for 'rotten, stinking extinction salmon' on the eve of an election. Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio also weighed in, telling his 60.4 million Instagram followers that the Australian government should take urgent action to 'shut down destructive industrial non-native salmon farms' and save the endangered Maugean skate, an endemic species found only in the harbour, from extinction. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, had promised the government would legislate to ensure there were 'appropriate environmental laws' to 'continue sustainable salmon farming' in the harbour and protect local jobs. Hanson-Young told the Senate that government has rushed through the bill in budget week with 'no proper process, no proper scrutiny'. She said there had been no time for officials to detail the potential consequences of the legislation, which lawyers have suggested could extend beyond the salmon industry and stop communities challenging other decisions, including coal and gas developments. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'This is a stitch up between the Labor government and Peter Dutton's Liberal party… to gut Australia's environment laws to facilitate the continuation and expansion of an industry that is polluting the Macquarie Harbour and that is pushing the Maugean skate, our wildlife, to the brink of extinction,' Hanson-Young said. Despite supporting the bill, the opposition's environment spokesperson, Jonno Duniam, criticised the process as an 'eleventh-hour fix to get this off the political agenda'. 'This government has stuffed it royally,' he said. Labor MPs consider the legislation important in the party's bid to win the seat of Braddon, in north-west Tasmania, at the upcoming election. Senator Anne Urquhart, who is attempting top move to the lower house by running in Braddon, told the Senate the debate was in part about 'good, well-paid jobs in Tasmania, which I've spent my working life standing up for'. The reconsideration of the Macquarie Harbour decision was triggered by a legal request in 2023 from three environment groups after concern about the impact of salmon farming on the skate. It prompted Plibersek to announce a review into a 2012 decision that deemed the farming was not a controlled action – meaning it did not need a full federal environmental assessment. An environment department opinion released under freedom of information laws suggested the review could lead to salmon farming having to stop in the harbour while an environmental impact statement was prepared. The new legislation is designed to prevent this by stopping reconsideration requests in cases in which developments had been deemed 'not a controlled action' and the minister had specified that the development required state or territory oversight. It would apply when the development was already under way and had been ongoing or recurring for at least five years. The government said the bill was 'a very specific amendment' to address a flaw in national environment legislation and that 'existing laws apply to everything else, including all new proposals for coal, gas, and land clearing'. The Australia Institute's Eloise Carr said preliminary legal advice suggested the changes could stop people from requesting reviews of other developments. David Barnden, the principal lawyer at Sydney firm Equity Generation Lawyers, said the bill was 'so poorly drafted' that it risked not even applying to the salmon industry in Macquarie Harbour. 'Legal challenges are almost guaranteed,' he said. The Maugean skate has been listed as endangered since 2004. Concern about its plight escalated last year when a government scientific committee said numbers in the wild were 'extremely low' and fish farming in the harbour was the main cause of a substantial reduction in dissolved oxygen levels – the main threat to the skate's survival. The committee said salmon farms in the harbour should be scaled back and recommended the species be considered critically endangered. A separate report by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies last month said surveys suggested the skate population was likely to have recovered to 2014 levels after crashing last decade. It stressed the need for continued monitoring. The government announced $3m in the budget to expand a Maugean skate captive breeding program. It said earlier this week it remained committed to improving the national law and creating a national Environment Protection Agency despite shelving those commitments and would consult on specifics in a second term.
