Reports the public weren’t informed immediately of Huon Aquaculture’s use of antibiotics in the River Derwent hatchery are profoundly alarming.
The River Derwent is part of Hobart’s drinking water catchment and its health is vital to the agricultural industry on its banks. It’s crucial the community and water users know when salmon farming companies using antibiotic treatments in the river. It’s a basic right to know what’s going into our water.
Tasmanians deserve transparency about what is happening in the waterways that could affect human and environmental health. Tasmanians are rightly questioning why this antibiotic use wasn’t reported in real-time, like when florfenicol is used in marine waters.
The fact there was a disease outbreak in Huon’s hatchery soliciting antibiotic use is yet another sign that things are seriously wrong in the salmon farming industry. The Liberal Government urgently needs to step up and get serious about regulating the salmon farming industry, to protect our rivers as well as the marine environment.
Instead of allowing Tasmanian waterways to be pumped with antibiotics, and leaving the community in the dark about it, the Liberal Government should immediately require companies to report real time antibiotic use and to destock diseased salmon farms.
