General News
20 November, 2024
Barra farm on the nose
THE boss of a fish farm has apologised to the community for the smell emanating from one of its barramundi ponds.
“We sincerely apologise for letting the community down and will work exceptionally hard to restore trust with our neighbours, many of which I have contacted personally and remain in touch with directly,” Mainstream Aquaculture chief executive Boris Musa told the Gazette.
“We operate 50 barramundi ponds at our Port Douglas site and unfortunately, in late October, we suffered a mortality event in one of our ponds. Regrettably, this pond is closest to the highway and neighbouring properties,” he said.
In order to fix the issue, the farm initially removed and disposed of the dead fish.
“Following this action, we have been treating the pond water to reduce the organic load and associated odour caused by the mortalities,” Mr Musa said.
“We are sincerely sorry for the distress we caused our neighbours.
“We have been operating the site successfully and in close collaboration with the community, many of which we employ, since 2021.
“We have not previously experienced an event of this type. We will continue to work extremely hard to eliminate the risk of this type of issue occurring again.
“However, in the unlikely event we have a similar event in future, we have invested in specialised equipment to ensure the clean-up operation is substantially accelerated and can occur in 24 hours, not in excess of one week.”
Mr Musa said the farm was a great supporter of the local community.
“Since Mainstream purchased the farm in 2021, we have made significant investments in the local community as a major employer, sponsor of local businesses and supplier of barramundi to thousands of restaurants and retail outlets across Australia, including many popular venues in Port Douglas and Far North Queensland,” he said.
“We are a major part of the local economy and unlike sugar cane and tourism, the main economic drivers in the shire, we are not seasonal, offering consistent work for employees and local contractors.”
Douglas Shire Council received several calls and complaints about the odour from the farm.
“The farm managers have advised that the odours are a result of a significant fish kill due to a parasitic infection in one of the ponds,” a council spokesman said.
“(The) council has been advised that all the dead fish (approximately 70-80 tonnes) has been buried on site in accordance with the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation’s (DESI) requirements. Officers from DESI conducted a site visit on October 30.
“All complaints received or calls to (the) council have also been advised to contact the pollution hotline (1300 130 372) as is procedure with DESI complaints.” The department was contacted for comment.
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