As Tassal shareholders prepare to vote on the company’s buyout by Canadian operator Cooke, it’s been revealed Tasmania’s acquaculture industry killed 25 seals in 18 months.
The Tasmanian Inquirer reports Huon Acquaculture was responsible for 20 of the deaths with Tassal the other five.
A seal death attributable to salmon farming can be caused by anything from entanglement and vessel strike to “humane destruction”.
It comes after a protest fleet temporarily halted Tassal operations near Port Arthur on Tuesday morning before police dispersed the boats.
The Bob Brown Foundation’s Alistair Allen claims Cooke won’t be any better than Tassal.
“I think the reason a company like Cooke with a chequered and dodgy environmental record comes here is because Tassal and Huon Acquaculture have opened the doors,” he said.
“They’ve trashed the environment already.”
