Latest news with #BobBrownFoundation
ABC News
02-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Salmon company Huon used tonne of antibiotics in bacterial outbreak, EPA report finds
Samples of wild fish caught near a Huon Aquaculture lease in February were found to have antibiotic residue levels up to a dozen times higher than the threshold for commercially sold salmon, according to an Environment Protection Authority (EPA) report. The interim report monitoring Huon's antibiotic use was completed by environmental consultants Aquenal. According to the report, 1,133 kilograms of the antibiotic Oxytetracycline (OCT) was administered via fish feed at Huon's Zuidpool lease between February 13 and February 26 this year. In February, a mass mortality event caused by the bacterial pathogen Piscirikettsia salmonis devastated salmon farms in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, south of Hobart. Between January and March, the death of more than 13,500 tonnes of salmon was reported to the EPA by the three major salmon companies operating in the state. By late February, Huon's Zuidpool lease had begun to draw public and media attention after the Bob Brown Foundation released drone footage showing workers at the lease putting live salmon into tubs along with dead stock. Oily globules made of salmon fat began washing up along beaches on the channel, which were found to contain low levels of antibiotics. According to the Australian New Zealand Food Standard Code, salmon destined for sale must comply with an antibiotic maximum residue limit (MLT) of 0.2 milligrams per kilogram. The report said eight samples of wild fish were taken in the Zuidpool North lease, with three samples — all blue mackerel — testing above the reporting threshold. It found one sample site with wild fish showing "relatively high" antibiotic residue levels of up to 2.4 milligrams per kilogram, or 12 times higher than the maximum antibiotic threshold for commercially sold salmon. In a statement, Tasmanian Public Health Director Mark Veitch said the results were consistent with estimates used in a Food Safety Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) risk assessment. "These samples were collected in late February 2025, in the days after the period of [antibiotic] dosing ended, when antibiotic residue was most likely to be present in fish and the environment." The report also tested at Zuidpool South, with no samples returning antibiotic residue levels above the limit of reporting. Samples were also taken at five locations several kilometres from the Zuidpool salmon pens. One of those sites, Ventenat Point on Bruny Island, recorded noticeably elevated antibiotic levels in blue mackerel that was sampled. Verona Sands, Jetty and Conleys Beach on Bruny Island, and Roaring Beach near Surveyors Bay were also sampled for antibiotic levels. Aquenal said the results of those surveys will be released "in subsequent reports". The EPA will release a final report with all sample results after the monitoring program finishes. It raised concerns that prolonged exposure to antibiotic treatment could result in resistant bacterial strainers that were more difficult to treat. This year the EPA would not disclose how much antibiotic was being used by Huon, citing commercial in confidence. "If individuals are concerned at all about potentially having antibiotics in wild fish, then of course they can choose to fish further away from the [affected] lease," former EPA Tasmania director Wes Ford said at the time. Antibiotics have been commonly used by salmon companies to treat bacterial diseases. However, the EPA said antibiotic treatment has declined since 2009 due to the development of vaccines. In 2022, Tassal used 675 kilograms of the same antibiotic to treat a vibrio outbreak at its Sheppards lease off the coast of Coningham. Three flathead caught 2 kilometres from the lease were also found to contain more than the reportable threshold of antibiotics in their flesh that same year.
RTÉ News
29-05-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Loggers fell old, native forests on Australian island
On the edge of a dense forest on a rugged Australian island, an enormous stump rises from the ground - all that remains of a eucalyptus tree that towered into the canopy for centuries. As wide as two dining tables, and standing above head height, it is the by-product of a logging industry carving its way through swathes of native forest in the island state of Tasmania. "We're standing on a stump that's 500 years old. That tree was so, so old," said Jenny Weber, campaign manager at the Bob Brown Foundation environmental group. "The tragedy of this one right in front of us is that it was cut down, and then it was too big to cut up into pieces and put on a log truck," Ms Weber said in Huon Valley's Grove of Giants, west of Hobart. Cutting down the tree was "shocking, just absolutely shocking", she said. In Tasmania, cutting down native trees is legal, despite its impact on wildlife and the environment. With half of its 68, blanketed in forest, the island is an exception in the dry continent of Australia. It is also the state that fells the highest share of native trees - 18.5% in the year to 30 June 2023, compared to a national average of 10%, according to government figures. South Australia has protected native forests since the late 19th century, while Victoria and Western Australia have banned the logging of native trees since 2024. 'The species disappears' In Tasmania, there are calls for the state to stop cutting down native forest too. More than 4,000 people marched through the streets of the state capital Hobart in March, demanding an end to the practice. In the crowd of protesters, some dressed as endangered animals, like the Tasmanian devil, an endangered marsupial, or the even scarcer swift parrot. The broad-tailed parrot is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which cites the clearance of eucalyptus trees that provide its breeding habitat in Tasmania. "These birds need the hollows formed in old trees to breed. If there are no hollows, there's no nest, so no chicks, and finally the species disappears," said Charley Gros, a French ecologist and scientific adviser to the Bob Brown Foundation. Sustainable Timber Tasmania is the state-owned organisation responsible for managing 812,000 hectares (two million acres) of public production forest. It aims to harvest timber while "balancing conservation and responsible land management", an official at the state forest manager said. Its latest annual report says it harvests "around 6,000 hectares of native forest - less than 1% of our total managed land" annually. Suzette Weeding, the firm's general manager for conservation and land management, said it runs a programme to monitor endangered swift parrots. This "comprehensive approach" allows "adaptive forest management," Ms Weeding said, "minimising potential disturbance to the species and its habitat". Shooting marsupials Sustainable Timber Tasmania's report said it sowed 149 million seeds across 5,000 hectares to "regenerate native forest" in the year to 30 June 2024. In the same period, official data show more than 70% of the native trees felled in Tasmania were turned into wood chips - much of it for export to China and Japan for production of paper, cardboard or toilet paper. The environmental cost does not figure, however, in the logging industry's balance sheet. According to government figures, the value of native hardwood harvested in Tasmania in 2022-2023 was Aus$80 million (€46m). Census data showed fewer than 1,000 people employed in the state's forest industry in 2021. Ms Weber is not convinced of Sustainable Timber Tasmania's environmental credentials, pointing to a recently felled area of forest where only charred stumps remain. To clean the area before replanting, the loggers drop incendiaries from helicopters, producing toxic fumes, she said. Once new tree seeds sprout, marsupials such as wallabies, possums and pademelons seek out the shoots for food, Ms Weber said. "Forestry has people to shoot those animals and kill them so they don't actually eat the baby shoots of the trees that they want to grow for more logging in the future." Only eucalyptus trees are replanted, she added, without the other native species such as myrtles and sassafras that once grew under the canopy.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Loggers fell old, native forests on Australian island
On the edge of a dense forest on a rugged Australian island, an enormous stump rises from the ground -- all that remains of a eucalyptus tree that towered into the canopy for centuries. As wide as two dining tables, and standing above head height, it is the by-product of a logging industry carving its way through swaths of native forest in the island state of Tasmania. "We're standing on a stump that's 500 years old. That tree was so, so old," said Jenny Weber, campaign manager at the Bob Brown Foundation environmental group. "The tragedy of this one right in front of us is that it was cut down, and then it was too big to cut up into pieces and put on a log truck," Weber said in Huon Valley's Grove of Giants, west of Hobart. Cutting down the tree was "shocking, just absolutely shocking", she said. In Tasmania, cutting down native trees is legal, despite its impact on wildlife and the environment. With half of its 68,000 square kilometres (26,000 square miles) blanketed in forest, the island is an exception in the dry continent of Australia. It is also the state that fells the highest share of native trees -- 18.5 percent in the year to June 30, 2023, compared to a national average of 10 percent, according to government figures. South Australia has protected native forests since the late 19th century, while Victoria and Western Australia have banned the logging of native trees since 2024. - 'The species disappears' - In Tasmania, there are calls for the state to stop cutting down native forest too. More than 4,000 people marched through the streets of the state capital Hobart in March, demanding an end to the practice. In the crowd of protesters, some dressed as endangered animals, like the Tasmanian devil, an endangered marsupial, or the even scarcer swift parrot. The broad-tailed parrot is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which cites the clearance of eucalyptus trees that provide its breeding habitat in Tasmania. "These birds need the hollows formed in old trees to breed. If there are no hollows, there's no nest, so no chicks, and finally the species disappears," said Charley Gros, a French ecologist and scientific adviser to the Bob Brown Foundation. Sustainable Timber Tasmania is the state-owned organisation responsible for managing 812,000 hectares (2 million acres) of public production forest. It aims to harvest timber while "balancing conservation and responsible land management", an official at the state forest manager told AFP. Its latest annual report says it harvests "around 6,000 hectares of native forest -- less than 1 percent of our total managed land" annually. Suzette Weeding, the firm's general manager for conservation and land management, said it runs a programme to monitor endangered swift parrots. This "comprehensive approach" allows "adaptive forest management," Weeding told AFP, "minimising potential disturbance to the species and its habitat". - Shooting marsupials - Sustainable Timber Tasmania's report said it sowed 149 million seeds across 5,000 hectares to "regenerate native forest" in the year to June 30, 2024. In the same period, official data show more than 70 percent of the native trees felled in Tasmania were turned into wood chips -- much of it for export to China and Japan for production of paper, cardboard or toilet paper. The environmental cost does not figure, however, in the logging industry's balance sheet. According to government figures, the value of native hardwood harvested in Tasmania in 2022-2023 was Aus$80 million (US$51 million). Census data showed fewer than 1,000 people employed in the state's forest industry in 2021. Weber is not convinced of Sustainable Timber Tasmania's environmental credentials, pointing to a recently felled area of forest where only charred stumps remain. To clean the area before replanting, the loggers drop incendiaries from helicopters, producing toxic fumes, she said. Once new tree seeds sprout, marsupials such as wallabies, possums and pademelons seek out the shoots for food, Weber said. "Forestry has people to shoot those animals and kill them so they don't actually eat the baby shoots of the trees that they want to grow for more logging in the future." Only eucalyptus trees are replanted, she added, without the other native species such as myrtles and sassafras that once grew under the canopy. "Eucalyptus are Australian but eucalyptus can't live to their full life by themselves in a tree farm." gp/djw/dhc
France 24
29-05-2025
- General
- France 24
Loggers fell old, native forests on Australian island
As wide as two dining tables, and standing above head height, it is the by-product of a logging industry carving its way through swaths of native forest in the island state of Tasmania. "We're standing on a stump that's 500 years old. That tree was so, so old," said Jenny Weber, campaign manager at the Bob Brown Foundation environmental group. "The tragedy of this one right in front of us is that it was cut down, and then it was too big to cut up into pieces and put on a log truck," Weber said in Huon Valley's Grove of Giants, west of Hobart. Cutting down the tree was "shocking, just absolutely shocking", she said. In Tasmania, cutting down native trees is legal, despite its impact on wildlife and the environment. With half of its 68,000 square kilometres (26,000 square miles) blanketed in forest, the island is an exception in the dry continent of Australia. It is also the state that fells the highest share of native trees -- 18.5 percent in the year to June 30, 2023, compared to a national average of 10 percent, according to government figures. South Australia has protected native forests since the late 19th century, while Victoria and Western Australia have banned the logging of native trees since 2024. 'The species disappears' In Tasmania, there are calls for the state to stop cutting down native forest too. More than 4,000 people marched through the streets of the state capital Hobart in March, demanding an end to the practice. In the crowd of protesters, some dressed as endangered animals, like the Tasmanian devil, an endangered marsupial, or the even scarcer swift parrot. The broad-tailed parrot is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which cites the clearance of eucalyptus trees that provide its breeding habitat in Tasmania. "These birds need the hollows formed in old trees to breed. If there are no hollows, there's no nest, so no chicks, and finally the species disappears," said Charley Gros, a French ecologist and scientific adviser to the Bob Brown Foundation. Sustainable Timber Tasmania is the state-owned organisation responsible for managing 812,000 hectares (2 million acres) of public production forest. It aims to harvest timber while "balancing conservation and responsible land management", an official at the state forest manager told AFP. Its latest annual report says it harvests "around 6,000 hectares of native forest -- less than 1 percent of our total managed land" annually. Suzette Weeding, the firm's general manager for conservation and land management, said it runs a programme to monitor endangered swift parrots. This "comprehensive approach" allows "adaptive forest management," Weeding told AFP, "minimising potential disturbance to the species and its habitat". Shooting marsupials Sustainable Timber Tasmania's report said it sowed 149 million seeds across 5,000 hectares to "regenerate native forest" in the year to June 30, 2024. In the same period, official data show more than 70 percent of the native trees felled in Tasmania were turned into wood chips -- much of it for export to China and Japan for production of paper, cardboard or toilet paper. The environmental cost does not figure, however, in the logging industry's balance sheet. According to government figures, the value of native hardwood harvested in Tasmania in 2022-2023 was Aus$80 million (US$51 million). Census data showed fewer than 1,000 people employed in the state's forest industry in 2021. Weber is not convinced of Sustainable Timber Tasmania's environmental credentials, pointing to a recently felled area of forest where only charred stumps remain. To clean the area before replanting, the loggers drop incendiaries from helicopters, producing toxic fumes, she said. Once new tree seeds sprout, marsupials such as wallabies, possums and pademelons seek out the shoots for food, Weber said. "Forestry has people to shoot those animals and kill them so they don't actually eat the baby shoots of the trees that they want to grow for more logging in the future." Only eucalyptus trees are replanted, she added, without the other native species such as myrtles and sassafras that once grew under the canopy.
Time of India
29-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Loggers fell old, native forests on Australian island
Image: TOI LONNAVALE; On the edge of a dense forest on a rugged Australian island, an enormous stump rises from the ground -- all that remains of a eucalyptus tree that towered into the canopy for centuries. As wide as two dining tables, and standing above head height, it is the by-product of a logging industry carving its way through swaths of native forest in the island state of Tasmania. "We're standing on a stump that's 500 years old. That tree was so, so old," said Jenny Weber, campaign manager at the Bob Brown Foundation environmental group. "The tragedy of this one right in front of us is that it was cut down, and then it was too big to cut up into pieces and put on a log truck," Weber said in Huon Valley's Grove of Giants, west of Hobart. Cutting down the tree was "shocking, just absolutely shocking", she said. In Tasmania, cutting down native trees is legal, despite its impact on wildlife and the environment. With half of its 68,000 square kilometres (26,000 square miles) blanketed in forest, the island is an exception in the dry continent of Australia. It is also the state that fells the highest share of native trees -- 18.5 percent in the year to June 30, 2023, compared to a national average of 10 percent, according to government figures. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 40대 이상이고 PC가 있으세요? 그럼 이 게임을 정말 좋아하실 거예요! Sea of Conquest 플레이하기 Undo South Australia has protected native forests since the late 19th century, while Victoria and Western Australia have banned the logging of native trees since 2024. - 'The species disappears' - In Tasmania, there are calls for the state to stop cutting down native forest too. More than 4,000 people marched through the streets of the state capital Hobart in March, demanding an end to the practice. In the crowd of protesters, some dressed as endangered animals, like the Tasmanian devil, an endangered marsupial, or the even scarcer swift parrot. The broad-tailed parrot is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which cites the clearance of eucalyptus trees that provide its breeding habitat in Tasmania. "These birds need the hollows formed in old trees to breed. If there are no hollows, there's no nest, so no chicks, and finally the species disappears," said Charley Gros, a French ecologist and scientific adviser to the Bob Brown Foundation. Sustainable Timber Tasmania is the state-owned organisation responsible for managing 812,000 hectares (2 million acres) of public production forest. It aims to harvest timber while "balancing conservation and responsible land management", an official at the state forest manager told AFP. Its latest annual report says it harvests "around 6,000 hectares of native forest - less than 1 percent of our total managed land" annually. Suzette Weeding, the firm's general manager for conservation and land management, said it runs a programme to monitor endangered swift parrots. This "comprehensive approach" allows "adaptive forest management," Weeding told AFP, "minimising potential disturbance to the species and its habitat". - Shooting marsupials - Sustainable Timber Tasmania's report said it sowed 149 million seeds across 5,000 hectares to "regenerate native forest" in the year to June 30, 2024. In the same period, official data show more than 70 percent of the native trees felled in Tasmania were turned into wood chips -- much of it for export to China and Japan for production of paper, cardboard or toilet paper. The environmental cost does not figure, however, in the logging industry's balance sheet. According to government figures, the value of native hardwood harvested in Tasmania in 2022-2023 was Aus$80 million (US$51 million). Census data showed fewer than 1,000 people employed in the state's forest industry in 2021. Weber is not convinced of Sustainable Timber Tasmania's environmental credentials, pointing to a recently felled area of forest where only charred stumps remain. To clean the area before replanting, the loggers drop incendiaries from helicopters, producing toxic fumes, she said. Once new tree seeds sprout, marsupials such as wallabies, possums and pademelons seek out the shoots for food, Weber said. "Forestry has people to shoot those animals and kill them so they don't actually eat the baby shoots of the trees that they want to grow for more logging in the future." Only eucalyptus trees are replanted, she added, without the other native species such as myrtles and sassafras that once grew under the canopy. "Eucalyptus are Australian but eucalyptus can't live to their full life by themselves in a tree farm."
