Tassal Tasmanian Salmon, an Australian salmon farming company, backed away from plans to dump treated wastewater from salmon pens into the Macquarie Harbour of Tasmania, Australia. In October, the salmon company submitted a proposal to the Australian Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to dump liquid wastewater into the harbour over six months.
However, after receiving considerable backlash from the community and objection from the state’s Environment Minister Elise Archer, Tassal announced new plans to hire TasWater to manage and dispose of the wastewater. Regarding the plans TasWater said, “Around two tanker loads of filtrate water will be received at TasWater’s Pardoe Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) near Devonport each day. The filtrate will bypass the STP, pumped directly into the ocean outfall pipe at Pardoe which disperses more than a kilometre offshore into the turbulent waters of Bass Strait, providing a good mixing zone.”
In response to the new plans Environment Minister Elise Archer said, “I am very pleased Tassal has listened to my concerns and that of the community, and come up with an alternative proposal.” Environmentalists remain concerned that the content of Tassel’s wastewater may breach State Government pollution limits for ammonia, nitrogen and biological oxygen.