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Objective

Recommendation

Key issues

What has been achieved 1998-2003

Tasmania Together

Related Issue Reports

Objective

To better understand the impacts of marine farming on coasts and estuaries, to better respond to these impacts, and better provide for the sustainability of marine farming in Tasmania.

Recommendation

It is recommended that:

• environmental monitoring and reporting guidelines for marine farming are finalised and implemented, and access and sharing of environmental monitoring information is promoted between industry, research organisations, community and government;
   
• nutrient loads in Tasmanian estuaries are assessed and research is undertaken into the impacts on estuarine and coastal ecosystems arising from land-based activities and marine farms;
   
• planning systems provide for the adaptive management of land-based activities that may impact on the sustainable conservation, management, use and development of the State's marine resources;
   
• ecologically sustainable development principles are recognised and reported against for fisheries providing feed stock for marine farming (these may include interstate fisheries;
   
• further research and monitoring is undertaken to more effectively manage the interactions between marine finfish farms and marine birds and mammals; and
   
• environmental flow requirements for marine farming are considered as part of the Integrated Management of Catchments, Coasts and Estuaries (see also Integrated Management of Catchments, Coasts and Estuaries).
   

Key issues

Supporting information for this recommendation is provided in the Marine Farming Issue Report. Marine farming is susceptible to a variety of environmental influences, including catchment condition, reduction of environmental flows, pollution of estuarine waters, and algal blooms.

Marine farming also has the potential to cause environmental harm if unregulated. These issues include potential deterioration of water quality associated with soluble waste emissions from farmed fish; and the deterioration of benthic habitats in the immediate vicinity of stocked fish pens associated with localised deposition of uneaten feed and faecal waste. There is also potential for translocation of pest species and transfer of diseases.

Marine farming can be classified into two types: shellfish (bivalve and univalve) and finfish (salmonid) operations, as these two groups have different levels of impact on the marine environment. Finfish culture poses a significantly greater risk to the marine environment than shellfish culture, due to its need for an external source of feed. The build-up of uneaten feed and the fish faecal material results in the accumulation of nutrients, potentially affecting water quality and local ecosystem processes.

What has been achieved 1998-2003

• An industry-wide environmental monitoring program has been implemented to monitor environmental conditions under and around marine farms as specified in the Marine Farm Development plans and each individual licence. This is a requirement under the Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 and the Marine Farming Planning Act 1995.
   
• A collaborative research project between researchers from the CSIRO and Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) is currently being undertaken to identify the most suitable parameters for monitoring the system-wide effects of soluble waste emissions from finfish marine farming operations into the marine environment. The TAFI studies recommend that several environmental parameters need to be measured every time a farm is monitored because no one parameter is consistently representative of environmental change.
   
• TAFI is also undertaking research into post-finfish stocking sediment recovery in order to assess the time that is required for sediments to return to near normal conditions, and the effects of environmental conditions and production levels at each farm on the rate of this recovery (TAFI 2000).
   
• In relation to the management of diseases that affect marine farming, TAFI is investigating the relationship between gill changes and environmental and husbandry factors. At present the amoebic gill disease is the only significant condition that has been identified.
   
• The Marine and Marine Industries Council has produced a Seal / Fishery Interaction Management Strategy (2002) and Background Report for Tasmania, which includes information on the interaction and mitigation of seals with the salmonoid industry.
   
• The Tasmanian Marine Farm Monitoring Project was set up as a trial program between 1998-1999 to raise awareness of marine pest issues in the marine farming sector in south-east Tasmania.
   
• The Tasmanian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program has been continued under the Public Health Act 1997 and the Food Act 1998 and is managed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
   

Tasmania Together

Relevant Tasmania Together goals and standards for 'Coastal, Estuarine and Marine' are listed in the linked file. The Tasmania Together Progress Board reported on progress toward targets for benchmarks set (Tasmania Together Progress Board 2003). Indicators, targets and baseline data are available in the latest Progress Report June 2003. Further information, including progress report updates, is available from Tasmania Together.

Related Issue Reports