News the Liberal Government has fast-tracked the antibiotic florfenicol for salmon companies to use has gone off like a bomb in southern communities. People are outraged the salmon industry will be allowed to operate unimpeded this summer, with marine life and communities bearing the burden for the government’s refusal to protect public waterways.
The Director of Public Health has advised that wild fish caught three kilometres from a dosed salmon pen should not be eaten for three weeks to prevent antibiotic residues being absorbed. The development of antibiotic resistance is an established serious risk when humans consume antibiotics in food. Grim news.
But where is the advice from the EPA about the impact of florfenicol on wild fish and microorganisms? They haven’t insisted on baseline testing of our marine environment. Yet evidence from research in Chile and elsewhere is deeply concerning, and shows the enormous loss of wild fish and bottom chain organisms.
Tassal has already started dumping florfenicol into its pens in the far south – but there is no information on public websites about ‘no-go’ fishing zones. Where is the advice to fishers and others about the timing, amount and location of florfenicol use?
The density of salmon farms across the Huon and Channel, Long Bay, Okehampton and Storm Bay, coupled with the distances wild fish travel, makes throwing in a line throughout these waters a risky business for recreational fishers.
The Liberal Government has a responsibility to regulate salmon farming companies to protect our marine environment. We don’t want barren seascapes like in Chile, void of marine life except industrial salmon.
Current evidence of algal blooms across Tasmania’s eastern coastline are a chilling portent. Salmon companies will continue to pour tonnes of waste and toxins into public waters to make maximum profits, feeding nutrients for algae – unless the Liberals regulates to rein them in.
Jeremy Rockliff needs to explain to fishers and people concerned about antibiotic resistance and marine diversity how allowing florfenicol and refusing to strengthen salmon company regulations is ‘putting the industry on notice’. Coastal communities are disgusted at this backward step, and the Greens will support them in demanding action to protect our beautiful marine waters.
