Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens' Leader
The Greens will move for a moratorium on fish farm expansion in Parliament this week in a bid to ensure the industry's rapid growth doesn't further degrade the marine environment and shut out affected communities.
With East Coast locals rallying on the water at Okehampton Bay today, it's obvious Tassal has no social license to operate in the clean, clear waters of the East Coast.
On land or far off shore are the future of salmon farming in Tasmania. Tassal's unpopular Okehampton Bay operation is the antithesis of world's best practice.
It poses an unacceptable threat to East Coast waters, in particular recreational fisheries and the nearby Marine Protected Area at Maria Island. Tassal should pull out of Okehampton Bay before any more damage is done.
For too long, the Liberal and Labor parties, along with Tassal, have ignored the science pointing to marine dead zones and they have played deaf to community concerns.
For too long, industry has called the shots and this has come at a huge price to the marine environment and Tasmania's clean, green brand.
It's time the Liberal and Labor parties, and the industry, started really listening instead of paying lip service to Tasmanians who are rightly concerned about rapid fish farm expansion.
A moratorium on fish farm expansion makes sense on every level. It would allow the community to have a say, and be heard, and it would move the industry faster towards genuine world's best practice.