According to Wes Ford, General Manager of Water and Marine Resources in DPIPWE, a permit will be provided to Van Diemen Aquaculture Pty Ltd to trial growing salmon at a site in the Tamar River. He also told that the permit will allow four fish cages to be placed on the eastern side of the Long Reach section of Tamar River.
Ford also informed that the permit will run from around July 2010 to January 2012 to allow for a single year class of fish to be grown. He added that Van Diemen Aquaculture had applied to amend the Tamar Estuary Marine Farming Development Plan to include a new marine farming zone that encompasses the permit site.
It is informed that at this stage research undertaken to prepare an environmental impact statement to accompany the draft amendment indicates average current flows significantly above those farmed in other areas of the State. The trial will allow these questions to be answered before an amendment is progressed under the provisions of the Marine Farming Planning Act 1995.
It is explained that Van Diemen Aquaculture will run an open day at their existing fish farm site on the western side of the Long Reach section of the Tamar River, on Saturday December 5 this year, so that the public can gain an understanding of Van Diemen Aquaculture’s existing farming operations, the proposal for a new site and the permit.
