A week after Tasmanians finally heard 3.3 tonnes of florfenicol have been used in just three of nine salmon leases, there is still no clarity about the total amount dumped in public waters. Despite widespread community concerns about this salmon industry cover up, the Premier has rejected Greens’ calls for him to take responsibility and require this basic level of transparency.
The salmon industry swore at the start of summer their use of the antibiotic florfenicol was the gold standard. Since then we’ve learned it persists in waterways and the flesh of abalone and other wild fish for months – and it has shut down some of our wild-caught fisheries indefinitely.
With 9,000 salmon mortalities recorded in the first three months of this year, the antibiotic is hardly the silver bullet the companies and government have claimed. It’s clearly failed to prevent another summer of mass salmon deaths.
Despite florfenicol’s use having been suspended by the federal regulator more than two months ago, the industry still hasn’t confessed the total quantity of antibiotics they dumped.
It’s not just the public who don’t know how much florfenicol has been used in Tasmanian waterways. Government agencies NRE and the EPA are also in the dark. The Greens asked the Premier in Parliament if he thought this was acceptable, but he wouldn’t answer.
The Premier’s tried to fob off the issue to the EPA, but that’s not good enough. As Premier of Tasmania, Jeremy Rockliff needs to take responsibility. He should require salmon farming companies to hand over the information they have about the level of antibiotics they’ve used to Tasmanians, now.
