Today’s new report from Institute of Antarctic and Marine Studies (IMAS) has shown that the catastrophic drop of 47% of the Maugean Skate population may have stabilised, but still leaving a shockingly low 40-120 adults remaining in Macquarie Harbour.
“The Maugean Skate remains on the very edge of extinction. The oxygen levels are still desperately low in Macquarie Harbour. Fish farms must be removed to give this unique animal any hope of survival,” said Alistair Allan, Antarctic and Marine Campaigner at Bob Brown Foundation.
“Today’s report further confirms just how urgent it is to remove fish farms from Macquarie Harbour and restore the dissolved oxygen levels in the harbour.”
“If the population of Northern rhinos showed any sign of improving, everything would be done to facilitate it. Instead, any sign of hope for the Maugean Skate is treated as a ticket to continue fish farming in Macquarie Harbour, which is the very industry that has pushed the Maugean Skate into the dire situation it is in now.”
“The federal Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, made a promise of ‘no new extinctions’ that must be kept. Fish farms must be removed from Macquarie Harbour immediately, as per her own department’s conservation advice,” said Alistair Allan.
- Young Maugean skates are still years away from maturity and breeding – still only 40-120 adult skates left in the harbour
- Oxygen levels still desperately low in Macquarie Harbour despite glacial improvement – an upturning of deep, oxygen-depleted waters could wipe out skate population
- Removing salmon farming is the fastest way to improve oxygen levels for the skate to survive and recover
The precariously low numbers of Maugean skates have reportedly stabilised, but the skate is still on the brink of extinction in its only home, Macquarie Harbour, the Australian Marine Conservation Society said after the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies released its second interim report on the Macquarie Harbour Maugean skate population.
Salmon farming has dramatically depleted the oxygen levels in Macquarie Harbour, and oxygen levels are still desperately low despite inching up glacially this year because of a reduction in salmon biomass from its peak in 2015 along with natural oxygen recharging from sea water entering the harbour last summer.
In the deeper waters of Macquarie Harbour oxygen levels are still not at the level where the Maugean skate can safely live, and an upturning of deep, oxygen-depleted water could spell the end of the Maugean skate in the harbour. An upturning event caused by storms in 2019 wiped out nearly half the Maugean skate population.
