Conservationists expressed alarm that the federal government may allow similar measures during a three-year trial in commonwealth waters to be overseen by the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), a government-funded not-for-profit company that lists the salmon companies Tassal, Petuna and Huon Aquaculture as partners.
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Seals in commonwealth waters are protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. It is an offence to kill, injure or move them without a permit.

“The minister for environment must ban all cruel seal deterrents,” said Bec Howarth, a fish farm and marine campaigner with the Bob Brown Foundation. The foundation opposes the trial, describing it as a “sea grab”.