The revelation was made in Seafish Tasmania’s submission to the Senate inquiry into the environmental, social and economic impacts of large capacity fishing vessels.

The submission also said there had been no further interactions with dolphins since June, which demonstrated the success of mitigation efforts.

A spokesman for the Small Pelagic Fishery Industry Association, of which the operator of the Geelong Star is a member, said the vessel’s low level of interaction with marine mammals compared favourably with other trawl fisheries in Australia and globally.

‘‘The mitigation approaches employed by the Geelong Star, a mix of those required by AFMA under the Geelong Star’s Vessel Management Plan together with a number of voluntary measures developed and implemented by Seafish Tasmania, are proving effective,’’ he said.

‘‘During the first three trips up to mid-June there were 12 Australian fur seal mortalities. Since that time there have been two further mortalities.’’ 

However, Mr Wilkie said the revelation of two further seal deaths was ‘‘simply dreadful’’.

‘‘The fact remains that these monster ships are very bad for the environment, deplete local fish stocks and put at risk other commercial fishing operations as well as tourism ventures.’’

A motion to disallow the removal of the night fishing ban that had been placed on the trawler was defeated in the Senate on Wednesday night.

Australian Fisheries Management Authority representatives remain onboard the Geelong Star.