John,
When T-Rex was roaming the earth the Maugean Skate was swimming in our seas.
This living dinosaur is unique to Australia. But it's in critical danger. The endangered skate’s last remaining habitat – Macquarie Harbour in lutruwita/Tasmania – is being destroyed by the salmon industry.
Giant industrial salmon and ocean trout pens have a chokehold over the skate’s final critical habitat. Waste matter and uneaten salmon feed from fish farms pollute Macquarie Harbour reducing the water's oxygen levels and suffocating the skate.
Big supermarkets like ALDI are selling salmon and ocean trout from Macquarie Harbour and slapping a ‘responsibly sourced’ logo on the packaging. It’s greenwashing 101. Let’s show the big supermarkets that shoppers don’t want to buy salmon so toxic that it’s causing the extinction of a living dinosaur.
→ Sign the petition calling on supermarkets like ALDI to stop supporting extinction and stop selling salmon from Macquarie Harbour.
The Maugean Skate, from the shark and ray family, is already an endangered species. And new research shows that of all the threatened sharks and rays worldwide it is the one most at risk of disappearing if we don’t act now.
A third of Macquarie Harbour has been classified as a Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, and yet the fish farm industry is polluting the harbour and is the biggest threat to the skate.
Avoiding an extinction event isn’t enough to motivate the salmon industry. But we know profits will. If we can put enough public pressure on the big supermarkets to stop buying salmon and ocean trout from Macquarie Harbour, the industry will have no choice but to remove its fish cages and give the skate an opportunity to thrive.
Will you stand up for the skate? Add your name to the petition now.
The skate is at risk of becoming the first shark or ray extinction in modern times as a direct result of human activity. John, we can’t let this happen.
Along with partner organisations, 189,000 Ekō members recently took on the Tasmanian salmon industry for shooting seals and shone a spotlight on its barbaric practices. More than 2 million people saw the social media posts shared by this community and the salmon industry has been in PR damage control ever since, spending big bucks on greenwashing videos to promote its “sustainability”.
The salmon industry’s social license is teetering on the brink. Let’s tip the scales by making sure the big supermarkets stop supporting extinction and stop selling salmon from Macquarie Harbour.
Maugean Skate: Skating Towards Extinction?IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. 8 July 2023.