Call to Reform Salmon Farming in Australia

Call to Reform Salmon Farming in Australia

Started
21 June 2021
Petition to
Peter Gutwein (Premier of Tasmania) and 1 other
Signatures: 1,763Next goal: 2,500
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Why this petition matters

Started by Salmon Reform Alliance

Tasmania’s salmon farming industry is unsustainable and urgently in need of reform. As outlined by Richard Flanagan’s book 'Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of Tasmania’s Salmon Industry' and the website SalmonReform.org, this industry is failing in just about every measure: the omega-3s are down, the heavy metals and other contaminants are up, tons and tons of excrement is blanketing the seabed and turning it into a dead zone, legacy mercury is being remobilised into the food chain, animal cruelty allegations are being raised, critically endangered handfish are being overrun by slimy filamentous algae, while critically endangered dolphins are struggling to use their echolocation (sonar) amidst thousands of underwater bombs deployed each year to deter seals, and the inland hatcheries stimulate toxic algae that have been correlated with Motor Neurone Disease. This cannot continue.

The regulatory framework governing the salmon industry was created at a time when today’s wholly destructive political and environmental juggernaut could not have been envisaged, and it is now failing utterly. Public confidence in the regulator to act to protect people’s lives and livelihoods has collapsed. Both the industry and the government have committed to doubling production by 2030. However, wholesomeness, sustainability and environmental responsibility are important to consumers, and salmon farming processes no longer align with modern values.

Earlier attempts toward accountability have been unsuccessful. State and Federal Inquiries have been ignored. Citizens’ health and safety complaints fall on deaf ears. And there exists no right of appeal against bad decisions. In order to find a way through this impasse, the Salmon Reform Alliance is calling on the Tasmanian Premier, The Honourable Peter Gutwein, and the President of the Legislative Council, The Honourable Craig Farrell, to establish a Royal Commission to enforce acceptable operational standards on this destructive industry.

The Salmon Reform Alliance is a non-government body of individuals and organisations concerned with the environmentally and economically unsustainable Tasmanian salmon farming industry.

Reform will help every Tasmanian affected by the salmon industry as well as every Australian who eats farmed salmon. Beyond that, Tasmanian salmon is exported all over the world, so this reform will have global reach.

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Signatures: 1,763Next goal: 2,500
Support now
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Decision makers

  • Peter GutweinPremier of Tasmania
  • Craig FarrellPresident of the Legislative Council of Tasmania