The closure of a further area of the southern rock lobster fishery due to the florfenicol used by salmon farming companies is deeply disappointing. The Liberals need to prioritise the interests of our local native fisheries over multinational farming corporations.
The Liberal Government is putting the profits of salmon farming companies above the community, the environment – and now even other fishing industries.
We only have to look to Chile’s salmon farming industry to see how their use of antibiotics has damaged the viability of wild fisheries. The Rockliff Government seems comfortable condemning the Tasmanian rock lobster industry to the same fate.
Premier Rockliff promised to rein in the salmon farming industry. Southern rock lobster fishers may rightly be feeling he’s broken that promise.
It’s beyond time the Premier took action. Instead of allowing antibiotics in Tasmanian waterways, the Liberals should require salmon farming companies to destock diseased pens.
