May 2, 2023

 

Tasmania state government releases new salmon industry plan

 

The Tasmanian state government in Australia has released a new Salmon Industry Plan to make the industry more sustainable and regain public support for the island's salmon industry, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

 

The plan lists 11 priorities, which include a regulatory framework that allows the salmon industry to increase in size. The government has dropped its former highly promoted target to double the industry by 2030, as it is already on track to achieve this goal.

 

Another key priority in the plan is making aquaculture companies foot the cost of the government managing the industry from July.

 

The plan also states that new environmental standards will be developed and companies will be encouraged, but not compelled, to switch to farming further offshore.

 

Companies will also be required to keep baby fish in enclosed hatcheries for longer. New areas will be considered for exclusion zones where there are no existing leases, including areas in the Furneaux Islands, off the north-east coast.

 

Jo Palmer, Tasmania's Primary Industries Minister, urged Tasmanians to read the plan and give the industry a chance. She acknowledged that the salmon companies had lost the public's trust, and they wanted to work towards regaining the approval of Tasmanians.

 

The chairman of industry group Salmon Tasmania, Lyall Howard, expressed concern over the plan to make aquaculture companies foot the cost of the government managing the industry from July, as it amounts to a levy "on a successful industry." He said that it puts future investment and jobs in Tasmania at risk.

 

The plan mentions that the industry will need to give an "appropriate return to community," although there are no details about what that might look like. Trish Bailey, from the Tasmanian Alliance and Marine Protection, said there is nothing in the plan to show how the industry will recover the costs that are borne by the taxpayers.

 

Tasmania's three salmon producers are all foreign-owned since the last remaining company, Tassal, was bought by Canadian seafood giant Cooke in 2022. Huon Aquaculture was acquired by Brazil's JBS Foods in 2021 and Petuna was taken over by New Zealand's Sealord in 2020.

 

-      Australian Broadcasting Corporation