Scale back salmon to save rare fish

Scale back salmon to save rare fish

By Ethan James

Source: northweststar

8/16/2024

Credit: HANDOUT/INSTITUE FOR MARINE AND ANTARCTIC STUDIES

The federal government is under increasing pressure to rule on the future of salmon farming in a remote Tasmanian harbour, the only home of a fish at risk of extinction.

Fresh scientific advice from a government committee has recommended the salmon industry in Macquarie Harbour be scaled back or removed to protect the endangered Maugean skate.

It found the industry posed a "catastrophic risk" to the survival of the species.

There are only 40 to 120 adult skates left in the wild, with the population projected to drop by 25 per cent in the next generation, the committee estimated.