16 July 2004
MEDIA RELEASE
ACTION NEEDED NOW ON SERIOUS MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AT GEORGES BAY
The release today of the detailed report by Dr Marcus Scammell into water environmental issues associated with Georges Bay at St Helens is a very loud wake up call for the State Government.
Dr Scammell has produced this report for the St Helens Marine Farmers who have been concerned for many years about unexplained mortalities of shellfish (mainly commercial oysters and mussels) in Georges Bay.
The shellfish losses have been accentuated following heavy rainfall events and the local floods in January this year caused immense financial losses for most significantly Georges Bay marine farmers and also along the east coast of Tasmania.
The Chief Executive of the Tasmanian Fishing Industry Council, Bob Lister said "The report identifies causal links of great concern to our industry and to the whole Tasmanian community and puts at risk our clean green image as the producer of the finest quality primary produce.
With unacceptable levels of water quality entering our inshore marine environment sectors of the Tasmanian seafood industry cannot be sustainable.
Water quality and quantity are intrinsically linked and are vital to all the downstream activities of our marine industries".
Bob Lister also said "The report emphasises the need for a cost effective, practical, environmentally responsible and safe monitoring program for our rivers, streams and storm water outflows. This program should be implemented proportional to the high environmental risks to gauge the effect of all catchment activities that present a danger to the estuarine and near coastal environments and indeed to the Tasmanian community as a whole.
We call on the State Government to immediately implement programs to monitor catchment activities and the impact on water quality which is their responsibility under the State Policy on Water Quality Management.
The clear objective must be to minimise downstream impacts and to put in place appropriate environmental management systems to ensure that our valuable water resources and the marine environment are given the highest level of protection".
"I want to make it very clear that the Tasmanian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program managed by the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services is world best practice and ensures that oysters and mussels grown in and sold from Tasmania are always safe for human consumption.
According to the DHHS over 100 million serves of Tasmanian oysters and mussels have been consumed since 1985 without any confirmed case of illness resulting from freshly harvested oysters and mussels" Bob Lister said.
Bob Lister can be contacted on 0408 146 960.
The Chairman of the Tasmanian Aquaculture Council Colin Dyke can be contacted on 0428 577 464.
The report by Dr Marcus Scammell is available HERE