Tassal farm in Macquarie Harbour. (Photo: Tassal)
Tassal wins back certification for two fish farm leases in waters of Macquarie Harbour
AUSTRALIA
Wednesday, September 06, 2017, 21:50 (GMT + 9)
Tassal has won back certification for its Macquarie Harbour operations, and is confident it will be able to put fish back in the water at its most controversial lease next year.
The company concedes it had been a tough year for scrutiny since Four Corners aired concerns about the health of the west-coast Tasmanian harbour.
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has now re-certified Tassal for its two stocked leases in the harbour, Gordon and Middle.
There were 19 certification failures identified by the ASC earlier this year, and the company was given three months to clean up its act.
Tassal's Linda Sams said the scrutiny of the harbour had been unprecedented.
Tassal did not seek certification for its third lease known as Franklin, which does not currently hold fish.
This lease is the closest to the World Heritage Area, and is the most damaged part of the harbour.
It was identified in an Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies report to have created a "dead zone", caused by low oxygen levels and fish faeces, and killed all seabed life within a 500-metre radius.
The Environment Protection Authority ordered the company to de-stock the lease in February.
Sams said the company was not certain whether it would be able to put fish in the lease next year, but early signs were good.
"The site has to come back into a level of compliance before we stock it," she said.
"At this stage it's pretty early to decide whether that will happen or not in 2018," she added.
The company would have to start from scratch to obtain ASC certification for the lease.
Rival salmon company Huon has launched legal action over the health of the harbour, and a date has been set in November to challenge a decision by the federal Environment Minister.
Environment Tasmania's Laura Kelly said Tassal did not deserve ASC certification for Macquarie Harbour, because it was failing to meet the council's own minimum oxygen level standards.
"We thought the large level of public concern and scrutiny may have made a difference, but unfortunately they've signed them off as compliant yet again," Kelly pointed out.
Source: Georgie Burgess / abc.net.au
Related articles:
- Strong controversy generated by federal approval for Tassal’s aquaculture farm in Tasmania
- Huon faces Tassal at federal court over biomass limit
- Tassal to trial waste collection system in Macquarie
- Tassal may lose ASC certification
- Tassal’s statements on Macquarie improvements sound unconvincing to authorities
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