In just one month, fifteen cormorants and one seal have drowned in a single Tassal industrial fish farm lease on the Tasman Peninsula.
Right to Information (RTI) documents have revealed a harrowing account of an adult seal being shot with sedatives multiple times, before finally drowning and being found at the bottom of a fish farm pen.
Tassal recently received an exemption from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), which allows them to continue using explosive deterrents on seals, despite the ASC’s supposed ‘zero tolerance’ policy on their use.
Bob Brown Foundation is calling for the immediate removal of fish farms from Tasmania’s waters.
Graveyards for native wildlife
‘These factory fish farms are graveyards for our native wildlife,’ said Alistair Allan, Antarctic and Marine Campaigner at Bob Brown Foundation.
‘If you are buying Tasmanian farmed salmon, you would never know that it is tainted with the blood of native seals and seabirds, but this is the grim reality.
‘The seal that drowned was shot with sedatives, not once or twice, but five times over multiple days before finally succumbing and drowning in the pen,’ said Mr Allan. ‘The ASC must immediately stop certifying Tassal, and the Tasmanian government needs to start removing these wildlife death traps from Tasmania’s oceans.’
Tasmania premier Jeremy Rockliff recently promised an independent review of the farmed salmon industry as part of crossbench negotations to form the government in the state, following the recent election. Rockliff has also promised a moratorium on the industry’s expansion.
Federally, the Albanese federal government has promised guarantees to the Tasmanian industry in spite of its disastrous environmental record.
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