Green Britain Foundation Exposes Diseased Salmon in Tasmania – And a Species on the Brink

The Green Britain Foundation has just dropped the first ever video footage of sick, diseased salmon lurking in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour – and it raises some serious alarm bells for the critically endangered Maugean skate. This skate lives only here… and nowhere else on Earth.

Our underwater investigation, carried out by the GBF research team, shows the grim reality under the surface – salmon farms pumping out disease right alongside one of Australia's rarest marine species. The farms are run by Tassal – an Australian seafood outfit – but the real bosses are a Canadian giant called Cooke, who also own salmon farms trashing the Scottish coastlines.

Here’s the thing: the Maugean skate is on the brink because the Harbour's water quality has been hammered... mostly thanks to salmon farming and hydroelectric damming. Low oxygen levels, toxic waste, and sheer human carelessness are pushing this species closer to extinction every day.

As I said in a quote for the press release:

"These salmon farming operations are run by multinational corporations with no genuine concern for local wildlife or ecosystems. Their only priority is profit, regardless of the environmental cost. The Maugean skate is found nowhere else on Earth, yet these companies continue business as usual while a species faces extinction in their wake. This is the same pattern we've seen globally—corporations exploiting local environments while claiming to be responsible stewards."

After seeing first-hand the mess salmon farming left in Scotland, we knew we had to bring the same scrutiny to Australia. This isn’t a local problem – it’s a global racket. A handful of multinational companies farming salmon across just a few countries, causing the same kind of ecological damage wherever they show up. Different location, same story.

"What we're seeing in Tasmania isn't unique. These multinational salmon farming companies use the same playbook everywhere they operate—they enter pristine environments, extract maximum profit, and leave devastation in their wake. They've perfected the art of greenwashing while their practices tell a completely different story. The Green Britain Foundation is committed to exposing this reality, whether it's in our home waters or on the other side of the world."

And the reality is, you don’t see this damage unless you go look for it yourself. That's something we learned the hard way in Scotland.

"Our experience in Scotland taught us an important lesson, the only way to reveal the true devastation caused by salmon farming is to investigate it ourselves. The industry has successfully concealed these impacts from the Australian public, just as they attempt to do in Scottish waters. We knew we had to apply the same direct investigation approach in Tasmania to uncover what's really happening beneath the surface."

We’re not stopping here. Our work in Tasmania is part of GBF’s broader mission – dragging the truth into the light wherever industrial exploitation is trashing ecosystems and threatening the wildlife that can’t speak for itself.

And we’re calling for action – right now – to give the Maugean skate a fighting chance:

• Independent monitoring of salmon farming's impact on the Harbour’s water quality

• Creation of sanctuary zones where no industrial activity is allowed

• Proper health checks on wild marine life living near these farms

• Full, public reporting of disease outbreaks and chemical treatments at salmon farms

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth:

"While salmon farming presents itself as a sustainable industry, our evidence from Tasmania adds to a growing body of documentation showing similar environmental concerns wherever these operations exist. The Green Britain Foundation will continue to investigate and document these impacts to drive meaningful change in industry practices globally."

We can turn this around... but only if we start telling the real story behind so-called “sustainable” salmon. And stop letting big business get away with killing our oceans.