00:00Rock lobster season had just begun in Tasmania when fisherman Bryce Way got the news.
00:09At one o'clock we're allowed to shoot our gear in, five hours later we've got a closure
00:14already and boats are being told that in another six hours time once you lift your gear don't
00:19put your gear back there.
00:20Parts of Tasmania's Dontrecasto channel had been shut down without warning.
00:25The closure in response to concerns about an antibiotic being used on farmed salmon.
00:31The issue is the lack of discussion to the local commercial and recreational fishermen.
00:37The two zones affected are in the Dontrecasto channel, one off the coast of Dover, the other
00:43off the coast of Bruny Island.
00:45With a three kilometre radius they cover salmon pens where Flofenicol has been started, two
00:50on November 7 and a third five days later.
00:53Tasmanians have been told the risk of eating fish near those zones is low, but a key importer
01:00of Tasmanian rock lobster, China, has a zero tolerance policy for the antibiotic.
01:06It was only this time last year China lifted a ban on Australian rock lobster.
01:11Now there are fears the latest development will tarnish the industry.
01:16Our lobsters are marketed as, from pristine waters, you know, the best seafood in the world
01:21and you've got an introduced species causing us a problem.
01:24The Premier describing the move as an extra precaution.
01:29For safeguarding export market access given the sensitivities as you'd well appreciate.
01:38Testing of rock lobster in the Dontrecasto channel continues.
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