Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens' Marine Environment spokesperson
As Greens’ Marine Environment spokesperson, I was proud to table the Okehampton Bay Finfish Removal Bill*. Our Bill would cancel the finfish farming marine lease and marine farming licence 236 that provides authority for Tassal to farm salmon in Okehampton Bay.
The Greens’ Bill clarifies that no finfish farming can occur in the Bay in future. It would protect the East Coast marine environment for future generations of Tasmanians.
Tassal do not have a social licence to farm salmon in Okehampton Bay, and the process for establishing whether the farming would have a negative impact on the marine environment was widely agreed to have been corrupted.
On land or far off shore are the future of salmon farming in Tasmania. Tassal's unpopular and dirty Okehampton Bay operation is the antithesis of world's best practice.
For too long, the Liberals and Labor, along with Tassal, have ignored the science pointing to marine dead zones and been deaf to community concerns.
The Greens will bring this Private Members Bill on for debate in the next sitting of parliament.