Legislative Council Inquiry into salmon industry

Submissions via the TCT are now closed. You can make a submission before 5.00pm Friday 29 November by emailing: finfish@parliament.tas.gov.au

You can copy points from this page, but your submission will be more powerful if it contains personal comments about your experiences and interactions with fin fish farms.

The Legislative Council (Tasmania’s Upper house) is holding an inquiry into the Salmon Industry and other finfish farming.

The inquiry will look at the planning, assessment, operation and regulation of fin fish farming in Tasmanian.

TCT will lodge the submission on your behalf on the closing date, 29 November.

You can make recommendations for reform in your comments.

You can select recommendations to append to your submission from the list provided. You have the option to make a public or private presentation to the committee of inquiry.

Terms of reference finfish farming in Tasmania:

To inquire into and report on the planning, assessment, operation and regulation of finfish farming in Tasmanian, with particular reference to:

1. The implementation of the “Sustainable Industry Growth Plan for the Salmon Industry” and its impact on commercial finfish farming operations and local communities, including:

   • data collection and publication;

   • progress in the development of an industry wide biosecurity plan;

2. Application of the Marine Farming Planning Act 1995 relating to:

   • preparation and approval process for marine farming development plans, including modifications and amendments to marine farming development plans;

   • allocation of leases, applications for and granting of leases;

   • management of finfish farming operations with respect to the prevention of environmental harm;

3. Any other matter incidental thereto.

suggestions on regulation and planning of the fish farming industry.

Marine Farming Planning Review Panel (the panel)

Abolish or reform: Abolish the current Panel or undertake a top to tail restructuring.

Recognise social values: Amend the Marine Farming Planning Act to explicitly require the Panel to assess and protect social values e.g. impacts on recreational boating and fishing, visual impacts and noise.

Appeal rights: Decisions of Panel regarding new leases and significant amendments to leases should be subject to third party appeals.

Civil enforcement: There should be a general civil enforcement provision, allowing any person with an interest to enforce non-compliance under the Marine Farming Planning Act.

Panel membership:

• Increase representation on the panel for interests not aligned with fish farming (Conservation group, recreational fishing and community).

• Require fish farming scientists to be totally independent of commercial interests.

Panel processes:

• Panel should be required to have a full complement of members in order to make decisions regarding new/amended leases and have a quorum to make decisions.

• Transcripts of Panel hearings should be produced and made public.

• Panel should be required to produce a statement of reasons and response to public representations and make it public.

Panel subject to review: Panel’s reasons and response to public representations should be subject to review by the TPC (and potentially TPC can make recommendations), as happens with draft reserve management plans, draft water management plans and proposed planning scheme amendments.

Remove minister’s veto power: Marine Farming Planning Act should be amended to remove or substantially constrain the minister’s powers to over-turn decisions of the Panel.

Integrate decisions: Require the Panel to integrate its decisions with biosecurity requirements.

Environment Protection Authority

Public input and third party appeal rights: All environmental licence applications and significant amendments must be subject to a decision by the EPA Board (and referral to the Board not at the discretion of the Director) so that public input and third party appeal rights are guaranteed.

Lease monitoring data: There should be a requirement to publicly release individual lease monitoring data, details of compliance and enforcement activities, and other EPA decisions including decision rationale (where there are no commercial in confidence considerations).

Environmental bonds: The EPA director should also have the power to impose environmental bonds to ensure companies maintain adequate funds to undertake any necessary remediation work.

Marine bio-spacial planning

The Tasmanian Salmon Growth Plan be scraped and introduce a Marine biospacial planning process in its place (consider basing the process in legislation). This process would be informed by science and be required to consult all stakeholders to develop broad strategy to guide/control where best to have marine farms. It would also identify priority areas for recreational boating and fishing, scenic and biodiversity protection, marine tourism, infrastructure etc.

Seal management

The industry should be give a period of a few years maximum to have fish farm pens incorporating best practice design to minimise seal inter-reaction.