Tasmania's Department of Natural Resources and Environment announced that commercial rock lobster and commercial dive fisheries in parts of the state's south-east would be closed for three months, from November 15 to February 14, to mitigate trade risks linked to antibiotic use by the salmon industry. Under the notices, commercial taking of rock lobster and setting of rock lobster pots would be barred within parts of the Southern Channel "Therapeutic Management Area", while commercial divers could not take short-spined and long-spined sea urchins or periwinkles in the Northern Channel area.

The closures were tied to salmon company Tassal's recent use of oxytetracycline at farms at Great Taylors Bay and Meads Creek in the lower D'Entrecasteaux Channel. A Tassal spokesperson called the step a precaution covering an area of about 1.6 per cent of Tasmania's annual historical rock lobster catch, and said monitoring was under way to support reopening. Salmon Tasmania has separately applied for an emergency permit to use florfenicol, with the national regulator seeking public submissions and a decision likely in November.

The measures follow the department's Wild Fisheries Market Access Plan, which provides for temporary closures near treated salmon pens to avoid detections that could trigger export bans. The announcement drew criticism from Tasmanian Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff and Franklin independent MP Peter George, who cited impacts on wild fishers' livelihoods.