SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2015

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(cont.) and mitigation strategies in the management of protected wildlife species. General potential impacts on threatened species from marine farming operations may include: • Entanglement • Habitat loss • Alteration of breeding behaviour, and /or • Behavioural change. Sensitive Habitats and Species Tasmanian coastal waters have extraordinary natural values that are of global conservation significance on the basis of high biodiversity, unusually large numbers of unique species, and rare ecosystems. The potential impacts of finfish aquaculture to these sensitive habitats and unique species is managed within a collaborative framework involving resource managers, scientists and the community. Tassal operates farms in close proximity to sensitive marine reserves in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, including the Tinderbox Marine Reserve and Ninepin Point Marine Reserve. Tassal continues to maintain an acute awareness of critical, protected or sensitive habitats located in close proximity to farms, and has robust management systems in place to understand how the environmental impacts of marine farming operations could potentially affect or modify the behaviours and habitats of threatened or endangered species. Tassal’s work in this area includes a characterisation of the marine natural values around their farm leases and an assessment of the potential risks to: • Benthic fauna and habitats • Marine vegetation and reef communities, and • Threatened species and communities (marine plants and invertebrates, fish, bird and marine mammals). To mitigate potential risks to sensitive habitats or species, Tassal has developed biodiversity management strategies that are based around environmental monitoring programs designed to detect ecosystem change at the broadscale level. Examples of existing monitoring programs include: • The BEMP (Broadscale Environmental Monitoring Program) which routinely assesses water quality and sediment health across Tasmania’s south east waterways. The BEMP provides important information relating to ecosystem health, particularly in relation to benthic infaunal diversity. To date, over 85 sampling events have been completed for the BEMP, representing over five years of monitoring data • Rocky reef health monitoring program – a study aimed at assessing ecosystem condition and the potential broadscale impacts to rocky reef communities from finfish farming. This program is a natural extension of the BEMP, to determine if parameters such as macroalgal species composition, percentage cover, epiphytic growth, changes to biodiversity and alteration in seasonal variation will be altered by impacts from Salmon farming. Tassal is committed to progressing macroalgal monitoring at selected sites in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, and • Specific marine biological surveys – aimed at establishing important baseline information for listed species or species of environmental significance, such as Giant Kelp communities, threatened handfish species and threatened marine invertebrates such as Gunn’s Screw Shell or the Live-bearing Seastar. We have been working in collaboration with Tasmania’s threatened species arm of the Department of Primary Industries to monitor and record the presence of handfish in the south east. In the reporting period, none had been identified through any of our surveys at sites of suitable depth and habitat. 46 Tassal Sustainability Report <strong>2015</strong>
Marine Reserves The D’Entrecasteaux Channel is subject to a range of formal spatial conservation and management arrangements that aim to protect natural values, both along adjacent coastlines and in the marine environment. Tinderbox Marine Reserve Tassal has marine farming operations located in the northern D’Entrecasteaux Channel. Tinderbox Marine Reserve is a reserve for the purposes of education, research and recreation. The sandstone reef of the Tinderbox Marine Reserve extends up to 100 m offshore, and reaches depths of around five to six metres. The reserve is home to more than 30 different species of algae, varying from Neptune’s necklace and Cystophora in the intertidal zones through to string kelp and strap weed in the more exposed areas. Sea grass is also common in the sandy areas of Tinderbox Bay. Fish species that inhabit the reserve include leather jackets, cardinal fish, senator fish and bullseyes. It is also home to weedy sea dragons, pipe fish and seahorses. Many colonial filter feeders are found attached to the reef substrate, including bryozoans, sponges and ascidians, and amongst these are octopus and squid. As with all healthy reef systems, invertebrates are common; at the Tinderbox Marine Reserve, crustaceans scavenge whilst molluscs graze on the algae growth. Ninepin Point Marine Reserve The Ninepin Point Marine Reserve is located near our Huon and Dover farming operations and occupies 731.8 ha in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel near the mouth of the Huon River. It is managed jointly under the Nature Conservation Act 2002 and the Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995. These waters possess significant conservation and biodiversity value which is reflected in its status as a ‘no-take’ area and the ongoing conservation of the natural values that are unique, important and have representative value. The Ninepin Point Marine Reserve is a unique environment; it has nutrient rich water from the southern ocean, overlaid by tannin rich water from the Huon River. Water temperatures here range from eight to 20 degrees celsius. Due to the overlying tannin rich layer of water, the reef hosts a wide variety of fauna and algae that often exist at much greater depths. Red algae dominate the reef substrate, while bull kelp and strap weed inhabit the exposed areas. Red velvet fish inhabit the reef, as do morwong, leatherjackets and little rock whiting, to name a few. Invertebrates that occur within the marine reserve include sponges, lacework bryozoans, hydroids, ascidians, anemones as well as molluscs and crustaceans. Several species of urchins and native seastars are also known to exist within the reserve. The Ninepin Point Marine Reserve also contains habitat known to support threatened species, including live-bearing seastar, Gunn's Screw Shell, and the Spotted Handfish. The coastal area of the reserve supports breeding populations of little penguins and a small forest of giant string kelp (listed as threatened community under the EPBC Act). MF 203 Partridge Island Reserves and Conservation Areas D’ENTRECASTEAUX CHANNEL MF 185 Tin Pot Point D’ENTRECASTEAUX MF 110 Soldiers Point NINEPIN POINT MARINE NATURE RESERVE Tinderbox Area MF 76 North West Bay CHANNEL MF 142 Roberts Point MF 90 Tinderbox MF 94 The Sheppards MF 154 Simmonds Point MF73 Sykes Cove MF 115 Simpsons Point MF 182 South Simpson CENTRAL CHANNEL MARINE CONSERVATION AREA RIVER DERWENT TINDERBOX MARINE NATURE RESERVE Bruny Island SIMPSONS POINT MARINE CONSERVATION AREA Bruny Island 0 1 2 Km N N 0 1 2 Km Tassal Sustainability Report <strong>2015</strong> 47
Page 1 and 2: SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2015
Page 3 and 4: Contents Message from our Chairman
Page 5 and 6: “We achieved ASC certification fo
Page 7 and 8: At the same time we successfully im
Page 9 and 10: Message from Ian Miles Head of Safe
Page 11 and 12: Our Salmon Our Biological Assets Ta
Page 13 and 14: Our Network - Sites MELBOURNE, VICT
Page 15 and 16: from Tasmania, increased by 194% ($
Page 17 and 18: Key Enablers The key enablers for t
Page 19 and 20: Case Study: Good Governance - Senat
Page 21 and 22: certification to Best Aquaculture P
Page 23 and 24: Goal Description FISH HEALTH & WELF
Page 25 and 26: Description PEOPLE Impact on sustai
Page 27 and 28: Our Community Engagement Officer wo
Page 29 and 30: Description ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES I
Page 31 and 32: Our Material Issues We have streaml
Page 33 and 34: Linking Material Impacts to the GRI
Page 35 and 36: consumer label, the ASC promotes ce
Page 37 and 38: WWF is very proud to walk side by s
Page 39 and 40: At each meal, the following factors
Page 41 and 42: Tassal’s Fish-In / Fish-Out Ratio
Page 43 and 44: Description Breeding and genetics I
Page 45: Salmon Farming in Tasmania’s Mari
Page 49 and 50: Changing Ocean Conditions As a prim
Page 51 and 52: 1995. Freshwater hatchery facilitie
Page 53 and 54: Water Quality in Macquarie Harbour
Page 55 and 56: Wildlife Management Tassal is commi
Page 57 and 58: Bird Gate Innovation Bird gates wer
Page 59 and 60: across all sites. This program is i
Page 61 and 62: Anaesthetics are used in Tassal’s
Page 63 and 64: Energy used, and associated CO 2e a
Page 65 and 66: GHG by source (t CO 2 e) 0.48 0.47
Page 67 and 68: Recovery Description of nutrients f
Page 69 and 70: packaging - pouches 1,219,355 units
Page 71 and 72: “Our longer term vision for the f
Page 73 and 74: ▪ 71% feel comfortable in discuss
Page 75 and 76: are provided under the wellness ban
Page 77 and 78: “We place a strong emphasis on em
Page 79 and 80: periodically reviewing compliance a
Page 81 and 82: Gender Demographics Total number of
Page 83 and 84: Percentage of employees who live an
Page 85 and 86: Sport was an important part of my y
Page 87 and 88: Phases of worker dependence A depen
Page 89 and 90: Tassal's total recordable injury fr
Page 91 and 92: WHS Innovations Standardisation In
Page 93 and 94: Our Team Each of our processing fac
Page 95 and 96: Number of positive reports 42 40 35
Page 97 and 98:
Promoting Healthy Lifestyles In add
Page 99 and 100:
Description Tassal certifications I
Page 101 and 102:
Memberships and Committees Tassal i
Page 103 and 104:
Biosecurity Procedures or measures
Page 105 and 106:
unsustainable fishing and safeguard
Page 107 and 108:
Tassal Sustainability Report 2015 1
Page 109 and 110:
GRI Content Index Page General Stan
Page 111 and 112:
Energy External Assurance Page G4-D
Page 113 and 114:
Category: Social (Sub-Category Labo
Page 115:
Tassal Sustainability Report 2015 1
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SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2015

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