Finfish farming legislation passes Tasmanian upper house
September 30, 2017
New laws controlling salmon farming in Tasmania have been passed the Tasmanian Legislative Council unopposed with two minor amendments.
The Bill includes:
The permanent and formal transfer of powers over day-to-day environmental regulation of the finfish farming industry from the Secretary of Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) to the independent Environment Protection Authority;
A requirement that finfish leases that have not been actively used for 10 years, undergo a comprehensive environmental assessment before they are farmed again;
Bringing together the environmental regulation of inland and marine finfish farming, including hatcheries, into a consolidated system under the Environment Protection Authority;
The introduction of a new Environmental Licence to farm finfish under Tasmania’s Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 (EMPCA); and
Powers for the declaration of finfish marine farming exclusion zones, or ``No Grow Zones’’ - the first of which will be in the greater Mercury Passage.
