SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2015

Water Quality in Macquarie
Harbour
Due to the unique hydrodynamics and
biology of the harbour (the harbour has
been historically impacted by mining)
the system has responded in unique
ways to new sites and benthic impacts.
Tassal is actively investing in monitoring
and research to improve the predictive
capabilities of models as they relate to
localised environmental impacts.
There are several long running research
projects in place assessing a whole
range of habitats that co-exist in relation
to our current farming practices. Many
of our leases border areas of cultural
significance, marine protected areas,
marine reserves and threatened
species communities. The current three
year FRDC reef monitoring project
looks at the current state of reefs in
relation to farming impacts. This project
incorporates the Tasmanian Abalone
Council (TAC), Institute of Marine and
Antarctic Studies (IMAS), Tasmanian
Rock Lobster Fishers (TRLF),
Tasmanian Salmon Growers Association
(TSGA) and the University of Tasmania.
Some of the sampling locations have
been assessed by experts for decades
in relation to near field and broadscale
changes within the ecosystem. The
current ecological balance that is
maintained is crucial for farming
operations to remain in close proximity
to these areas of local and national
significance. Tassal participates in
an Area Management Agreement in
Macquarie Harbour.
Compliance in Hatcheries
Each hatchery within Tassal has its own
biosecurity plan and we are looking at
developing a health management and
disease surveillance program for each
individual hatchery to suit their individual
systems.
Based on compliance enforced by
local councils and the Inland Fisheries
Service, in FY2015, we achieved
96.8% compliance at Rookwood Road
hatchery, a decrease since last year
(98.4% compliance), as water use is
now included in scope. Tassal has
undertaken an irrigation sustainability
report with the purpose to assess
current reuse irrigation practices,
and highlight opportunities for further
irrigation in the area.
Our Russell Falls and Karanja
hatcheries sit on the Tyenna River
downstream of the Mt. Field National
Park. 100% compliance was recorded
for our Russell Falls and Karanja
operations.
As part of our ASC certification, we also
undertake surveys to assess macroinvertebrate
abundance, species and
community composition upstream and
downstream at our Russell Falls flow
through hatchery. Benthic macroinvertebrates
are a mix of adult and juvenile
forms of aquatic crustaceans, insects,
annelids, and molluscs that live in rivers
on, and within, river bottom substrates
that perform key ecological roles. To
date we have performed two annual
surveys and have shown compliance
with the ASC Salmon standard on both
occasions.
Tassal Sustainability Report 2015 53