Ms O’CONNOR question to MINISTER for ENERGY and RENEWABLES, Mr DUIGAN
As you know, this week the first captive-born Maugean skate arrived in a tank, an egg laid in captivity at Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).
Ms Forrest – Well, you sing baby shark but you skate. Do you know the song ‘Baby Shark’?
Ms O’CONNOR – I do not know the song ‘Baby Shark’. This is a serious question, members. As you know, minister, the Maugean skate’s numbers crashed by about 47 per cent between 2010 and 2021 and, according to IMAS, the primary cause of that is the de‑oxygenation of the waters in Macquarie Harbour due to the intensification of fish farming.
What do you see as the future of this first captive -born skate, given that it requires oxygenated waters? Presumably, it has been born in a tank that is oxygenated. Is it the government’s plan to send the first captive-born Maugean skate back into Macquarie Harbour, likely to die?
ANSWER
Mr President, I thank the member for the question. I was pleased to go to IMAS at Taroona yesterday, or the day before, to look at the captive breeding program, which is one of the actions in our Maugean Skate Recovery Plan. It would appear that the Maugean skate is a relatively happy breeder in those environments –
Ms O’Connor – Not in Macquarie Harbour, hey?
Mr DUIGAN – It is the long-term goal of the captive breeding program to be able to have captively born skates return to the wild. I think that would be the ultimate goal of that program. It is also about having an insurance population, but also better understanding the species. I think the work at IMAS is very important.
The government believes fish farming and Maugean skate can coexist in Macquarie Harbour. I would point the member to recent data taken around oxygen levels in the harbour, noting that Macquarie Harbour is a very complex ecosystem. There are a lot of different things at play in that place in terms of oxygenation and other things –
Ms O’Connor – No, the oxygenation issue is to do with fish farms.
Mr DUIGAN – Ocean flushing and all those sorts of things are contributing factors to the water in Macquarie Harbour.
My congratulations to the scientists at IMAS. They are world-class, as has been said in this place recently and frequently. They are doing important work for the Maugean skate amongst other species. It is the intention that we would see some of those skates and another two have since been born from captive laid eggs at IMAS. We are starting to get a reasonable population. There are approximately 150 viable eggs currently in that program and there is still more to learn about how that species might effectively breed in captivity. That part of the equation has not been broached, but it is important work as we continue to protect and see the Maugean skate have a viable future here in Tasmania.
Ms O’CONNOR question to MINISTER for ENERGY and RENEWABLES, Mr DUIGAN
The IMAS report into the Maugean skate made it clear the problem is the deoxygenation of the water caused by the intensification of salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour. Do you acknowledge that over the 10 years since salmon farming was intensified in Macquarie Harbour, the skates population has fallen by nearly half? I am asking you this on a very human level, as minister for Parks and Environment, how determined are you to make sure that the skate does not become extinct?
ANSWER
Mr President, I thank the member for the question. What I would do is point to what is a very comprehensive Conservation Action Plan [ok] being implemented to ensure the survival of the Maugean skate and a comprehensive environmental management framework which is in place to ensure a sustainable salmon farming operation in the harbour.
This includes the captive breeding program being undertaken at IMAS which we have spoken about and members who have been in contact with me are, generally, very pleased to see young Maugean skates being born in captivity.
Ms O’Connor – Better that they are born in the harbour.
Mr DUIGAN – Yes, and I am sure they are being born in the harbour. In December 2023, my department approved the sustainable collection of two pairs of adult Maugean skates and 50 eggs. Since then, we know that in the early stages of the captive breeding program, two of those adult skates died, apparently with potentially existing medical conditions, but since then, 50 eggs collected from Macquarie Harbour – a total of 24 juvenile skates – have hatched from those wild caught eggs –
Ms O’Connor – How many survived?
Mr DUIGAN – and in the eight months since capture, one of the female skates has laid more than 100 eggs – 108 eggs is my understanding. We have had three hatchings of captive laid eggs and that is exciting.
The recovery team comprises a range of stakeholders and expertise representing government, research institutions, industry and community, and under this governance, around 90 per cent of the actions outlined in the Conservation Action Plan are completed, underway or otherwise in progress.
We know the Macquarie Harbour Oxygenation Project [ok] is also showing promising early results. There is also ongoing population monitoring of the Maugean skate in Macquarie Harbour to inform conservation management actions. There are, as you would be aware, restrictions for gill netting in Macquarie Harbour which we formalised in November 2023 to minimise the risks of interaction between skates and fishers. And the west coast community has shown long term interest in Maugean skate conservation and a willingness to share local knowledge and participate in citizen science actions.
The wellbeing of the skate and the west coast community will remain at the forefront of this government’s decisions and actions, and the government has committed a substantial amount of funding to the ongoing viability of the Maugean skate.
