Save the Maugean skate

The Maugean skate, Australia’s ‘dinosaur in a bathtub’ is facing imminent extinction within 10 years. Found only in a small enclosed pocket of water, Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania, historical and modern-day human activity could mean Tasmania plays host to the world’s first extinction of a ray in modern times directly because of human activity. Intensive salmon farming, altered river flows into the harbour to support hydroelectricity production, and the climate crisis have pushed the skate too hard for too long, literally choking them to death.

To save our living “dinosaur” from imminent extinction we need Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to ensure the following happens:

1. Restore the health of Macquarie Harbour so that oxygen levels are restored and maintained at levels conducive to supporting a healthy Maugean skate population. This requires;
a) an immediate pause on salmon farming, at least until oxygen levels are restored,
b) and regulation river flows for their downstream effects in the harbour
2. Immediate development of a captive breeding program
3. Ongoing population monitoring to establish how many skates there are to track and refine recovery efforts.
4. Fast track an uplisting to ‘Critically Endangered’ under Australia’s nature laws as per the HSI and AMCS scientific nomination.