The petition of the undersigned residents of Australia draws to the attention of the House the grave concerns about the negative impact on our local pristine marine environment of the proposed salmon farm at Okehampton Bay in the Spring Bay area. Your Petitioners therefore request the House to call on the Government to complete thorough independent research in relation to the negative effects of salmon farms on pristine marine environments. Tasmania's East Coast has some of the most pristine waters and unique sea life in Tasmania. These include: crayfish, abalone, mussels, scallops, oysters, flathead and the rare leafy sea dragon. Also, Mercury Passage is a listed gummy shark nursery. These will be adversely affected by any fish farm developments. We have won numerous tourism awards: Maria Island Walk, Avalon Accommodation, Sapphire Accommodation, Freycinet National Park, Wineglass Bay. Also Maria Island National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site. TASSAL are proposing to erect 28 salmon pens, each 160 metres in Circumference (that's roughly 5 MCG's), to breed 800,000 Atlantic Salmon, at Okehampton Bay, directly opposite the marine park (7 kilometres away),located on Maria Island. The Spring Bay Area is very popular with recreational fisherman and holiday makers. Tourism in this area generates hundreds of jobs, professional fisherman rely on this area for their livelihood. It is a magnificent place of unspoilt natural beauty. We only get one chance, don't let this area become polluted by tonnes of salmon excrement and visually polluted by the associated above water infrastructure.