Celebrity firepower and elections raise temperature in salmon debate

Earlier this week laws were passed in the Australian Senate that will effectively protect salmon farming in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour from being shut down by the federal government .

The Albanese-led Labour government has approved legislation that reduces the right to review previous federal environmental decisions, in an attempt to safeguard salmon farming jobs on Tasmania’s west coast.

In one of the last acts of parliament before the election in May, the event saw a senator waving a dead salmon in the Senate, while another in his gym attire shouted at the prime minister.

Labour and the centre-right Coalition combined to vote through the amendment to federal environment laws on Wednesday.

But critics say it is all about Labour trying to win votes in Tasmania rather than representing any affection for the salmon farming industry.

Meanwhile in Iceland, Björk, along with the Iceland Wildlife Fund, is helping to fund a lawsuit brought by landowners against the fish farmer Arctic Fish, which is majority owned by Mowi. The singer has been a long standing critic of open pen salmon farming.

Arctic Fish suffered a large salmon escape 18 months with many of the fish getting into local rivers.