New salmon debris washes ashore as EPA says it has results from ‘chunks’

Preliminary test results show the greasy “chunks” found washed up on a southern Tasmanian beach on the weekend were made up of oil from dead salmon.

Warning: This story contains photos of dead salmon that may be confronting.

The material, which was found on the Verona Sands foreshore south of Hobart sparked concern amongst residents and environmentalists this week, with the Bob Brown Foundation (BBF) alleging the material was “large quantities of rotten salmon”.

Tasmania’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA) said results from tests on the chunks had now returned, showing them to be fish oil mixed with sand.

EPA director of finfish compliance Darryl Cook said the “most likely explanation” as to why the fish was appearing along beaches was a mortality event occurring in a number of fish farming leases in Tasmania’s south-east.

“Those fish, when they die, they need to be retrieved from the water and taken for appropriate management on a land-based facility. But they can start to decompose in the water,” Mr Cook said.

Carcasses washing ashore on Bruny Island, BBF says

The results come as the Bob Brown Foundation releases further images showing what it says is “salmon fat” and “whole salmon carcasses” washing ashore at a different beach.

Activists said the lumps and fish carcasses were found on a Bruny Island beach, also in southern Tasmania.

“This is now solid proof that the industry has completely lost control of the disease outbreak that is causing so much death and suffering on these factory fish farms,” Alistair Allan, Antarctic and marine campaigner at BBF, said.

Mr Allan is also a Greens candidate for Lyons at the upcoming federal election.

Salmon Tasmania chief executive officer Luke Martin said salmon producers were monitoring the Bruny Island reports.

“The companies will be monitoring the beach conditions, around the harbours, around the bays, and obviously they’ve got a responsibility to jump on this,” he said.

“The Bruny Island situation has been presented to us this afternoon, so there’s work that needs to be done to understand what it is and how it’s happened.”

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The BBF also released photos and video of dead salmon being dumped in industrial skip bins at Huon Aquaculture and Tassal sites.

“These huge skip bins filled with dead and rotting salmon show the Australian public and consumers just how cruel and disgusting factory-farmed salmon is,” Mr Allan said.

Nothing to suggest chunks are a health concern, EPA says

Speaking about the Verona Sand deposits, the EPA said that while the substance needed “a bit of washing to get off”, it did not pose a risk to the health of people or animals.

“There’s nothing I’m aware of at this stage that would suggest a concern,” Mr Cook said.

“So, it’s a bit of a mix of all those different substances that you’d expect there.”

Why are so many fish dying?

Mr Cook said salmon company veterinarians had described the cause of the mortality event as “multifactorial”.

“There’s warmer water, and then there’s a disease. The things all add up together at the same time at more than one farm. So, you can end up with numbers of fish dying,” he said.

Huon Aquaculture said the die-offs in its pens were being caused by a rickettsia bacteria disease.

While there is a vaccine, the company said some fish were unable to be vaccinated and it had started to use antibiotics at one of its fish farm sites to help combat the disease.

Mr Martin said the vaccine available was struggling to keep up with the latest version of the disease.

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“In normal circumstances, the vaccines are designed to manage this and to prevent these sorts of outbreaks,” he said.

Mr Cook explained that notifying the EPA was required if 0.25 per cent of the fish in one pen were dying for three consecutive days or if 0.5 per cent died on any one day.

“We’ve had a number of those notifications. So, less than 1 per cent of the fish have died, but nonetheless, you’re talking about a large number of fish in multiple pens at different farms,” he said.

Sending salmon to landfill a ‘normal practice’

Concerns have also been raised over an image circulating on social media that appears to show a large number of salmon dumped in landfill.

The image was said to be taken at Copping Waste Precinct, east of Hobart, which is owned and operated by Southern Waste Solutions (SWS).

In response to questions from the ABC, Southern Waste Solutions said it believed the image was taken at its facility.

It said that while landfilling organic material was “a last resort”, it was sometimes necessary when other forms of disposal were unavailable.

“SWS works closely with the aquaculture industry to ensure these isolated disposal events are managed in a safe and environmentally responsible manner,” the response reads.

Mr Martin said under normal circumstances, rendering plants were used to dispose of dead salmon, which processed the waste into products such as fish food.

However, due to the current high rate of mortalities, other waste management processes need to be used.

“So, you’ve got to look at other options, including landfill.”

The EPA said it was “normal practice” for dead salmon to be disposed of at facilities approved to accept the waste.

“Both salmon companies operating in south-east Tasmania have experienced elevated mortalities over recent weeks and are directing the resultant waste to a variety of approved sites,” an EPA spokesperson said.

“Deceased salmon is a permitted waste for the Copping facility under their current permit.”