Bob Brown Foundation welcomes the proposed suspension by APVMA of the antibiotic florfenicol in Tasmania’s factory fish farms.

The announcement comes off the back of recent reporting that the antibiotic had contaminated wild fish such as abalone and rock lobster as far as 10 km from the nearest industrial fish pen.

Bob Brown Foundation is calling for a complete ban on the dumping of antibiotics en masse by the fish farm corporations and for the factory fish farms to be required to fallow and destock fish farms in times of disease outbreak.

“Despite the Tasmanian government knowing the impacts florfenicol has had in other parts of the world, such as Chile where florfenicol contaminated marine animals as far as 30 km from the nearest fish pen, they have allowed the mass dumping of antibiotics into the Tasmanian ecosystem,” said Alistair Allan, Antarctic and Marine Campaigner at Bob Brown Foundation.

“This suspension of antibiotic dumping should not be temporary, it should be a permanent. These huge companies should not be allowed to contaminate public waters ways and fragile marine ecosystems to protect their profits. This is yet another indictment in a list a mile long of how irresponsible these companies are. It’s time for Premier Rockliff to remove fish farms from Tasmania’s waters entirely,” said Alistair Allan.