Save the Maugean skate! Add your quick comment

Comments for the ACF community submission are now closed.

However, comments via the Australian Government's consultation hub remain open until Friday 2 February. Use the talking points on this page and send your message directly to the government!

The Maugean skate is crashing towards extinction from the impacts of industrial salmon farming in its only home of Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania.

Without urgent intervention this marine ray that’s as old as the dinosaurs is likely to disappear forever.

In 2012 the Environment Minister of the day decided salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour didn’t need assessment and approval under Australia’s nature laws. The Maugean skate needs Tanya Plibersek to revoke that decision and declare it does require assessment under Australia’s nature laws, as the first step to getting the skate the emergency relief it needs.

Add a comment and we’ll include it in an ACF Community submission to the government – comments close next week.

What to include in your comment

The minister can choose to reconsider the decision if she deems there is substantial new information about the impacts of salmon farming, or a substantial change in circumstances for the Maugean skate as a protected matter. Use these talking points to craft your comment:

• The Maugean skate population in Macquarie Harbour has declined by 47% in seven years, between 2014 and 2021. The pace of the decline shows its vulnerability to environmental degradation and very few juveniles are reaching adulthood. This raises serious concerns about the species' survival if suitable conditions can’t be delivered.
• New evidence confirms salmon farming’s impact on dissolved oxygen levels in Macquarie Harbour, and its contribution to the decline of Maugean skate populations and mass-skate death events.
• Macquarie Harbour is now the only known location of the Maugean skate. It is highly likely it is the only home it has making it critical to its survival. Failing to address the threats to the skates from salmon farming will almost certainly lead to its extinction.
• The Australian Government’s own Conservation Advice for the Maugean skate 'Substantial recent evidence indicates a high risk of extinction for the species in the near future'. and names the 'urgent priority' of 'Eliminating or significantly reducing the impacts of salmonid aquaculture on dissolved oxygen concentrations'.
• The Albanese Government’s pledge to end extinctions demands that the Minister intervenes urgently by declaring salmon farming in Macquarie harbour a 'controlled action' requiring assessment under Australia’s nature laws.

Banner image: Salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour. Credit: Crbellete/Shutterstock.