SALMON BUSTERS

Species under threat

This page showcases threatened species living in marine ecosystems impacted by Tasmania’s toxic salmon industry and explains how industrial fish farms put vulnerable wildlife at risk.

Maugean Skate

About the Maugean Skate

The Maugean skate is a unique, stingray-like creature found only in the tannin-stained waters of Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania’s west coast. Having survived for an estimated 60 million years, it has endured countless changes—yet industrial fish farms now threaten its very survival. They feed on crabs and other small creatures in the dark, brackish waters they call home, and are found nowhere else on Earth.

Conservation status

The Maugean skate lives only in the tannin-stained, low-light waters of Macquarie Harbour, a closed, slow-flushing system that makes it extremely sensitive to pollution, oxygen loss, and habitat disturbance. With such a tiny population and nowhere else to go, any environmental stress can have devastating impacts.

Threats from salmon farming

Industrial salmon farming is destroying the skate’s last remaining refuge. Waste from overcrowded fish farms consumes oxygen as it breaks down, leaving the harbour dangerously depleted.

A severe low-oxygen crash in 2017–18 killed over one million farmed salmon and trout — and likely hundreds of Maugean Skates. With ongoing pollution and heavy industrial presence in the harbour, salmon farms now pose the single greatest threat to this ancient species’ survival.

Red Handfish

About the Red Handfish

Red Handfish are one of the rarest fish on the planet, found in only two tiny reef areas in Tasmania. With a total population of around 100 adults, they are critically endangered. These tiny fish, less than 10 cm long, use their “hands” to crawl along the seafloor—a remarkable adaptation unlike any other. Their survival is under immediate threat from habitat destruction and industrial pollution.

Conservation status

The Red Handfish is listed as Critically Endangered, with an estimated population of fewer than 100 individuals left in the wild.

It survives in extremely small, isolated habitat pockets that are easily damaged. The species relies on healthy seagrass and macroalgal beds, stable water quality, and predator-free breeding sites — making it highly vulnerable to any disturbance or pollution.

Threats from salmon farming

Industrial salmon farming worsens nearly every pressure facing the Red Handfish.
Pollution and nutrient waste from fish farms can drift into coastal habitats, smothering algae and seagrass the species depends on. Increased nutrification, chemical discharge, and ecosystem disruption all further degrade critical habitat. With such a tiny population and such a restricted range, even small declines in water quality linked to salmon farming can push the Red Handfish closer to extinction.

Shy Albatross

About the Shy Albatross

The Shy Albatross is Australia’s only endemic Albatross. They breed exclusively on three remote islands off the coast of Tasmania and are mostly seen roaming the Southern Ocean. These giant birds can live for up to 40 years and mate for life.

Conservation status

The Shy Albatross is listed as endangered; it is believed there are around 15,000 breeding pairs left. The chicks hatch in December and fledge mostly in April. Immature birds return to their breeding colony at the earliest, 3 years after fledging. Shy Albatrosses are very slow to mature and with only a single egg once a year their reproductive rate is very low. This means even the slightest increase in mortality can have catastrophic consequences for the survival of a population.

Threats from salmon farming

The endangered Shy Albatross is found in the area of the proposed new fish farms in the Bass Strait. The Bass Strait Trial is Currently underway with 2 pens 12 kilometers offshore of Burnie. If these fish farms are allowed to expand into Bass strait and along the coast, the results could be disastrous for the Shy Albatross. They now face yet another threat to their survival, entanglement in fish pen netting.