Rise Up for Tasmania's Oceans

Tell Woolworths and Coles to help save the Maugean skate by removing Macquarie Harbour salmon from their shelves.

Tell Woolworths and Coles to help save the Maugean skate by removing Macquarie Harbour salmon from their shelves.

Email the CEOs of Woolworths and Coles

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Dear Ms Bardwell, Ms Weckert,

You have the opportunity to play a critical role in preventing the extinction of an Australian animal that is as old as the dinosaurs – the Maugean skate.

Can you explain to me, as a customer and community member, why you continue to sell salmon that is driving the millenia-old Maugean skate to extinction and negatively impacting the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area?

The skate’s only home is Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania. A third of the harbour forms the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area for which the Maugean skate is listed as a species of world heritage value because of its Gondwanan lineage.

Australian Government Conservation Advice identified salmon farming operations in Macquarie Harbour as a “very high risk” threat that is “almost certain to impact the Maugean Skate throughout the entire harbour” with “catastrophic” consequences.

These are the same salmon farming operations that you source from.

Last year, a significant number of your shareholders – representing millions of Australian superfund members – voted in favour of a resolution calling on you to assess and disclose your farmed seafood’s impact on endangered species, including the Maugean skate. The resolution made history – globally it was one of the largest nature risk resolutions in 2024.

Yet you continue to sell Macquarie Harbour farmed salmon to unsuspecting shoppers as ‘responsibly sourced’.

Statements from your company use a myriad of excuses – all inexcusable given the urgency of the matter and your responsibility to take action according to international guidelines such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct.

No more excuses:

-- Stop hiding behind ‘sustainability’ certifications. More than 80 groups from around the world have called on the BAP and GLOBALGAP certifications to revoke their certificates of Macquarie Harbour salmon farms. Their standards simply fail to detect and penalize farms for their impact on the skate.

-- Stop hiding behind cherry-picked science. Although scientists at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) have detected tentative signs of a recent upward trend in the skate’s population, its imminent extinction risk is unchanged and they warn the “Maugean skate’s population is still at low levels and potentially subject to major environmental events leading to mortality”.

-- Stop hiding behind the breeding captivity program. While necessary, the reality is captive skates will need a resilient and healthy Macquarie Harbour to return to. Adding to this, hatched baby skates stem from a single female skate – gravely constraining the necessary genetic diversity for the long term survival of the species.

-- Stop hiding behind the oxygenation pilot project. Improved oxygen levels in the harbour have been a result of good weather conditions, particularly natural oceanic recharges. The pilot remains just that – a pilot; and unproven at any substantial scale.

-- Stop hiding behind government processes. The EPBC Act review and amendment doesn't absolve you of your responsibility as a corporation. The Maugean skate remains at risk of extinction and your supply chain implicated.

-- Stop hiding behind stakeholder engagement. While meaningful stakeholder engagement beyond the industry and certifications is necessary; taking meaningful action to prevent an extinction is required – yesterday.

Large corporations like yours are expected to meet the OECD’s Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct through conducting due diligence to prevent and correct adverse environmental impacts within your supply chains. The Guidelines explicitly state companies should not use certifications in lieu of conducting its own due diligence actions. It also states any lack of full scientific certainty is not a reason for postponing action.

What is known is that the IUCN-red listed Maugean skate remains one of the world's most endangered shark and rays species.

And as one of Australia’s largest supermarkets, you have the responsibility to help save the skate.

I look forward to hearing back from you as to how and when you plan to stop selling Macquarie Harbour salmon.

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