THE EXTINCTION DIET: TASMANIAN ATLANTIC SALMON VERSUS THE MAUGEAN SKATE

• Main Author: Paull, John
• Other Authors: School of land and food (University of Tasmania), WayScience
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: Macquarie Harbour; Tasmania; Australia; fish; extinction; invasive species; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; [SDV.OT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Other [q-bio.OT]; Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04216489; https://hal.science/hal-04216489/document; https://hal.science/hal-04216489/file/Paull2023.MaugeanSkate.MacquarieHarbou.ISPIC.pdf

International audience If the price of Tasmanian Atlantic Salmon is extinction for the Maugean Skate, is the price too high? Macquarie Harbour is a tourist destination, a wilderness experience for off-the-beaten-track tourists. This harbour is protected by its remoteness-on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia's island state. Tasmania's protected UNESCO Wilderness World Heritage Area (WHAA) comprises 15,800 sq km, about a quarter of the state, and Macquarie Harbour is an aqua-jewel set on its Indian Ocean frontier. The harbour is protected not only by its isolation, but also by Hell's Gate, the narrow (120 m) and shallow entrance; treacherous for shipping and impassable for cruise ships. Sydney Harbour has been described as "the world's largest … natural harbour" and it is indeed a massive and magnificent harbour (it is 55 square km), but it is dwarfed by Macquarie Harbour which is six times the size (315 square km). Macquarie Harbour is home to the Maugean Skate (Zearaja maugeana). This fish is a living fossil, which has been living its life and ‘minding its business’ for millions of years. Home for the Maugean Skate is Macquarie Harbour, its only home, its home for millennia, and for which it is well adapted.The Maugean Skate is now classified as threatened and endangered. The main threat to the existence of the Maugean Skate is the introduction of industrial-scale farming of Atlantic salmon. Three multinational companies are overseeing this ecocide.