The promise, made in a letter to industry group Salmon Tasmania, came after years of lobbying for action in Macquarie Harbour to save the threatened Maugean skate from extinction.
AMCS shark expert Dr Leonardo Guida said the new report shows a “strong correlation between increased salmon farming intensity and a drop in estimated Maugean skate numbers”.
In the letter, the prime minister referenced a new report from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (Imas) which shows the Maugean skate population is “consistent with the long term average as at 2014”.
The director of The Australia Institute in Tasmania, Eloise Carr, said special legislation to protect farming operations in the harbour is “likely to condemn the Maugean skate to extinction should not be rushed through”.
Anthony Albanese has promised to introduce legislation that will allow “sustainable salmon farming” to continue in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, sparking anger from conversationists and researchers who urged for the local industry to be scaled back.
