Conservation groups are calling for Australia’s major supermarkets to stop selling farmed salmon from Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour to prevent the extinction of the Maugean skate.
Over 100 million years, the Maugean skate has evolved to live in the dark, tannin-rich waters of Macquarie Harbour, a fjord-like estuary on the remote west coast of Tasmania.
“These companies must immediately stop procuring and selling Macquarie Harbour salmon and trout … this is the equivalent of these supermarkets having rhino horn on their shelves.” Discovered in Bathurst Harbour in 1988, and in Macquarie Harbour a few years later, recent research found only minute traces of skate DNA in Bathurst Harbour, leading scientists to conclude there is no longer a population there.
The concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water across Macquarie Harbour decreased steadily between 2009 and 2014, and these concentrations have varied seasonally over the past decade, but have not returned to normal levels. While it would be necessary to run a pilot program, Ross said this method could start this summer. “Discussions about the salmon industry needs to be part of the equation, but these things will take time and the system is not going to respond quickly. The skates need action now,” Ross said.
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