Proposed Development Information to Accompany
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT TO ACCOMPANY A REQUEST TO AMEND THE TASMAN PENINSULA AND NORFOLK BAY MARINE FARMING DEVELOPMENT PLAN NOVEMBER 2005 This environmental impact statement has been prepared by; Tassal Operations Pty Ltd. G.P.O. Box 1645 Hobart Tasmania Australia 7001 Phone: 1300 TASSAL (1300 827725) Fax: 1300 880 179 Web: www.tassal.com.au E-mail: [email protected] ii GLOSSARY ADCP Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler AGD Amoebic Gill Disease ASC Aquaculture Stewardship Council Salmon Aquaculture Standard CAMBA China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement DPIW Department of Primary Industries and Water EIS Environmental Impact Statement EPBCA Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 FCR Feed Conversion Rate GDA Geocentric Datum of Australia GPS Global Positioning System HAB Harmful Algal Bloom IMAS Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies JAMBA Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement MAST Marine and Safety Tasmania MFDP Marine Farming Development Plan MFPA Marine Farming Planning Act 1995 MFPRP Marine Farming Planning Review Panel PA Planning Authority PS Proposal Summary PSEG Proposal Specific Environmental Impact Statement Guidelines ROKAMBA Republic of Korea-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement SCUBA Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus TSPA Threatened Species Protection Act iii 1 Table of Contents Contents GLOSSARY ...................................................................................................... III 1 ......... Table of Contents .......................................................................iv 2 ......... Executive Summary .................................................................... 1 2.1 Proposed Amendment Description ............................................................... 1 2.2 Stakeholder Consultation .............................................................................. 2 2.3 Existing Environment ..................................................................................... 2 2.4 Potential Effects and Their Management ..................................................... 2 2.5 Summary of Effects and Their Management ................................................ 3 3 ......... Proposed Amendment Description ............................................. 4 3.1 Proposal Overview ........................................................................................ 4 3.2 Infrastructure and Servicing .......................................................................... 7 3.3 Stock Husbandry Aspects ............................................................................ 11 3.4 Waste Management .................................................................................... 15 4 ......... Stakeholder Consultation ......................................................... 20 5 ......... Existing Environment ................................................................ 21 5.1 Environmental Conditions ........................................................................... 21 5.2 Flora and Fauna ........................................................................................... 28 6 ......... Potential Effects and their Management .................................. 39 6.1 Impacts on the Natural Environment .......................................................... 39 6.2 Impacts on the Human Environment .......................................................... 94 7 ......... Summary of Effects and their Management ............................105 8 ......... Conclusion ...............................................................................118 9 ......... References ..............................................................................119 10 ....... Appendices .............................................................................124 iv List of Figures Figure 1 Tassal's Tasman Farming Region .............................................................................. 5 Figure 2 Tassal salmon sales volumes ...................................................................................... 7 Figure 3 Quantity of medication administered to salmon stocks in the Tasman Farming Region from 2006 to September 2015 .................................................................................................. 13 Figure 4 A 30 year hindcast model indicates winds at Wedge Bay are predominantly from the northern and western sectors. .............................................................................. 22 Figure 5 The wind and wave model location is not afforded the same level of protection from the south as the remainder of Wedge Bay. ............................................................... 23 Figure 6 Map of water quality sampling sites at the Tasman Farming Region .............. 25 Figure 7 Map showing survey locations for seabirds recorded in “Storm Bay”* .................... 30 Figure 8 Nitrogen emissions (soluble and solid) for historic, current and expected feed inputs ............................................................................................................................................ 43 Figure 9 Soluble nitrogen emissions as a function of feed input at the Tasman Farming Region (2008-2017) ................................................................................................................... 43 Figure 10 Tassal environmental monitoring sites ............................................................... 47 Figure 11 Solid Nitrogen emissions relative to annual feed input .................................. 54 Figure 12 Nests of Wedge-tailed Eagles (from Threatened Species Section 2006) ............. 62 Figure 13 Nests of White-bellied Sea-eagles (from Threatened Species Section 2006) ....................................................................................................................................................... 62 Figure 14 Tassal shoreline clean-up schedule ...................................................................... 65 Figure 15 Fish cage at Creeses Mistake Lease showing bird netting and bird stand in centre of cage ............................................................................................................................. 95 List of Tables Table 1 Vessels to be used by Tassal to service the Tasman Farming Region ............... 8 Table 2 Expected changes to amenity as a result of the proposed amendment ........... 8 Table 3 Water quality parameters included in the sampling program ........................... 25 Table 4 Seabirds recorded in “Storm Bay” in the BirdLife Tasmania database. “Storm Bay” is defined here as a polygon with vertices at (a) Iron Pot, (b) Cape Queen Elizabeth, (c) Cape Raoul and (d) North-west Head. ........................................................ 30 Table 5 Marine mammals that may be found in the vicinity of the Tasman Farming Region ........................................................................................................................................... 32 Table 6 Listed Threatened and Migratory species and communities under the EPBCA and TSPA within 5 km of the Tasman Farming Region. .................................................... 33 Table 7 Previous, current (and expected) annual feed inputs and nitrogen emissions to the surrounding environment for the Tasman Farming Region. ..................................... 42 Table 9 Birds protected under bilateral agreements (JAMBA, CAMBA and ROKAMBA) through the Federal EPBC Act 1999. .................................................................................... 60 Table 10 Vessels ................................................................................................................... 96 Table 11 Other powered equipment ............................................................................... 97 Table 12 Miscellaneous Noise producing equipment ................................................... 97 Table 13 Summary of potential effects and their management ..................................... 105 v 2 Executive Summary Tassal is a vertically integrated company that includes freshwater hatcheries, saltwater aquaculture, processing, value adding and retail outlets. Tassal is committed to being the industry leader in sustainable aquaculture production in Australia. Tassal currently farms approximately 24 000 T of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) per annum, with all of the stock produced in Tasmania. Tassal is the largest producer of Atlantic salmon in Australia and is a publicly listed company on the Australian Stock Exchange. More recently Tassal has acquired De Costi Seafoods allowing direct access to wholesale markets around the nation. This partnership provides a direct market link to supply chains and allows Tassal to enter the greater seafood distribution domain. As part of Tassal’s ongoing commitment to environmental and social best practice, the company holds Global Aquaculture Alliances Best Aquaculture Practices certification of its Marine Farming Operations and its Primary Processing Facility. This document will cover the proposed amendment to the Tasman Farming Region. 2.1 Proposed Amendment Description The rationale behind this proposal is to harmonize the Tasman Farming Region’s environmental monitoring with other Tasmanian salmon farming regions, and will align this region with State-wide best practice water quality monitoring. This will provide a framework which will allow Tassal the flexibility to stock fish depending on environmental performance,