Catching an antibiotic free feed for Christmas lunch is off the table for many coastal communities in south-east Tasmania with news Huon Aquaculture will be dumping the antibiotic florfenicol on another salmon farm in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel from tomorrow.
This is a devastating blow to recreational fishers and other users of coastal waters just days before summer begins.
Recreational fishers have been advised not to fish within 3km of a treatment site if they’re worried about consuming antibiotic residues. This new dump of antibiotics will take the withholding period for human consumption in caught wild fish beyond Christmas.
Last week we heard in Budget Estimates that some 700kg of the antibiotic florfenicol has already been released into the D’Entrecasteaux Channel by salmon farming companies in less than two weeks and now, as predicted, the companies are accelerating their assault on our waterways.
The commercial crayfishing industry has had to move out of the Channel and it won’t be long before recreational anglers won’t be able to fish throughout all south-eastern waters without potentially exposing themselves to antibiotic residue.
The Liberal Government should demand fish farm companies destock diseased salmon pens instead of treating them with antibiotics and potentially impacting Tasmanian fishers. It’s past time the Premier made good on his promise to put the salmon farming companies “on notice”.
The Greens will continue to inform the public about what these multinational companies are up to, because we know the Liberal government will not.
