More than 80 organisations around the globe have called for two international accreditation schemes to revoke sustainability certifications for salmon and trout farmed in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, with letters labelling the certification “misleading”.
The letters to the Best Aquaculture Practices (Bap) and GlobalG.A.P schemes come as federal and state government workshops are held in Hobart to determine what urgent action is necessary to prevent the extinction of the critically endangered Maugean skate, an ancient fish species found only in Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania’s west coast.
It follows work by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (Imas) that found the number of skate had fallen by nearly half in seven years, with pollution from salmon farming a factor that had led to considerable changes to the skate’s habitat.
Signatories from 17 countries sent the letters demanding both schemes withdraw their certification, which they labelled “misleading”.
“Simply put, greenwashing the extinction of the Maugean skate is not ‘best practice’ or ‘environmentally responsible’,” the letters say.
The signatories include conservation, animal welfare and community groups, such as Canada’s sustainable seafood organisation SeaChoice and Australia’s Bob Brown Foundation, as well as scientists and award-winning authors including Richard Flanagan.
Tassal (Cooke Aquaculture) and Petuna (Sealord) are certified through Bap, while Huon Aquaculture (JBS) is GlobalG.A.P. certified.
Kelly Roebuck of SeaChoice said major supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths relied on these certifications to sell farmed salmon and ocean trout with “responsibly sourced” labels.
“Unsuspecting shoppers are being misled into thinking they are buying a responsibly sourced product when in actuality they are contributing to the extinction of a species,” Roebuck said.
“It’s now up to the schemes to show they are going to take this seriously and revoke the certifications in Macquarie Harbour.”
Alistair Allan of the Bob Brown Foundation said the certifications should be revoked or “they will be the first certification schemes in the world to certify an extinction of a species”.
“These certifications must not shirk their responsibility here. They cannot palm this off to the auditors or wait until the companies’ next audit to address this dire situation,” he said.
Luke Martin, the chief executive of industry peak body Salmon Tasmania, said the salmon industry worked closely with Imas and other scientific organisations and government agencies to sustainably manage the waterways it operated in, including Macquarie Harbour.
He said the industry was a longstanding advocate for ongoing research into the Maugean skate, had contributed more than half a million dollars to this research, and Salmon Tasmania was participating in and presenting at the Hobart workshop.
“We continue our call for all key stakeholders – including Hydro Tasmania, TasWater, the mining industry, recreational and commercial fishers, local, state and federal governments and our industry to step up and be part of the solution,” he said.
He said the interim Imas report “makes it clear that there are many factors to consider and the science to date is inconclusive and we believe that other issues may also impact the Maugean skate.”
