The Environment Protection Authority, kept weak by the Liberals, were powerless to stop salmon corporations polluting Tasmania’s oceans, and diseased and stinking dead fish washing onto beaches, this summer. With a new government and the Greens in the balance of power, we’ll fight for a truly independent EPA to clean up salmon farming.
This summer Tasmanians watched in shock as beaches in the south were covered in disgusting chunks of diseased salmon. Millions of kilograms of dead salmon were pumped out of fish farms, and live salmon loaded into bins. In the wake of this animal cruelty, the RSPCA withdrew certification for Huon Aquaculture.
This marine catastrophe and community impact would not have occurred if the government had not kept the EPA on a tight leash. The Liberal Government, supported by Labor politicians, has been intent on boosting the profits of their big salmon donors. Unless action is taken, last summer’s mass marine harm could become the norm as our waters continue to warm.
The situation was so bad, even Labor’s Federal member for Franklin, Julie Collins, recognised Tasmania needs a stronger Environment Protection Authority. Fish farm corporations have been allowed to treat Tasmania’s oceans as a pollution dumping ground for too long.
A truly independent EPA would review salmon farming corporations’ leases, licenses and conditions to ensure they favour the environment, not the fish farming multinationals.
In the balance of power, the Greens will fight for an independent EPA that protects the marine environment, not the profits of salmon farming corporations. Tasmanians deserve to walk this state’s beaches and swim in its waters unpolluted by dead and diseased salmon.
