The Environmental Standards for Tasmanian Marine Finfish Farming 2023 (the Environmental Standards) set out the industry's environmental regulatory framework under the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 (EMPCA). The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is the agency responsible for implementing the Environmental Standards and regulating this industry.
A Companion Paper that provides context and explanatory detail is also available, which is intended to be read alongside the final Environmental Standards.
Both the Environmental Standard and the Companion Paper are published below.
Environmental Standards for Tasmanian Marine Finfish Farming 2023 (PDF 546Kb)
Companion Paper - Environmental Standards for Tasmanian Marine Finfish Farming 2023 (PDF 2Mb)
Background
The Environmental Standards have been prepared by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) in consultation with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), who provided the regulatory and technical content.
Technical Standards need to be made in relation to several topics, including, but not limited to:
- Establishment of reference conditions, environmental indicators, and reference sites
- Baseline environmental assessments (BEA)
- Broadscale environmental monitoring programs (BEMP)
- Water quality and investigative trigger values
- Soft sediment video surveys
- Detailed sediment surveys
- Reef habitat surveys
- Seagrass habitat surveys
- Total permissible dissolved nitrogen output (TPDNO)
- Therapeutant management
- Noise management
Offence Provisions
Part 3 of the Environmental Standards for Tasmanian Marine Finfish Farming 2023 introduced a range of Offence Provisions.
Most of the offence provisions will be triggered when the EPA Director issues a written notice invoking the provision.
Many of the Offence Provisions are consistent with Environmental Licence requirements in place prior to the making of the Environmental Standards. There are, however, some new requirements that can be used to address specific issues as required. These include Decomissioning Plans, Light Attenuation Management Plans, investigation of vessel noise, and a new requirement for reports of therapeutant residue monitoring to include an evaluation of the factors contributing to the need for medication.
For a summary of
how Environmental Standard Offence Provisions are applied, visit the EPA website.
Environmental Standards Conditions
Frequently Asked Questions
The frequently asked questions about the Environmental Standards can be found in this document.