Salmon Industry Pollution

To The Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

The petition of the undersigned residents of Tasmania draws to the attention of the House:

• Coastal communities are deeply concerned about the health and wellbeing impacts of noise, light, smell, and marine debris pollution caused by finfish industry operations.
• Current measurement methods for the impacts of these pollutants is ineffective, and do not capture the reality of residents' exposure and experiences.
• Noise and light pollution in these rural communities have enormous impacts on the physical and mental health of residents through sleep deprivation, anxiety and depression, and property valuation.

Your Petitioners therefore request the House to:

1.  Amend relevant environmental standards and legislation governing the finfish industry to develop effective methods of measuring impacts of low frequency noise.
2. Call on the Government to ensure salmon industry vessels do not moor or operate overnight within three kilometres of residential properties, and all on-vessel lighting not required for navigation, engines and machinery be shut down between 9:00pm and 5:00am.
3. Call on the Government to require results from noise, light, marine debris and odour pollution monitoring and reporting to be publicly disclosed at the earliest practicable time, along with related complaints and investigation results.
4. Call on the Government to ensure breaches of environmental standards are met with mandatory fines for each breach, with penalties for ongoing breaches to include the suspension or cancellation of licenses.