Get the Facts

Second only to warming oceans, foreign-owned Atlantic salmon companies pose the greatest threat to Tasmania's marine heritage.

Food quality and health

Industrially-farmed Atlantic salmon is marketed as a so-called super food: anything but! Learn more about Ethoxyquin added to fish feed, antibiotics used to manage disease in high-density pens, high levels of omega 6 fatty acids, and the use of synthetic Astaxanthin to colour the salmon flesh from grey to salmon orange.

Pollution

Open net pen aquaculture in shallow waterways causes algal blooms which smother the seabed. Inland hatcheries pollute domestic water supplies. The pens contribute marine debris and microplastics, and 24/7 industrial noise and lights disturb local communities. There's more . . .

Animal Welfare

The salmon industry in Tasmania is responsible for the mistreatment of marine wildlife, seabirds, seals and dolphins, and salmon fish stock, through cruel production methods, and the ways they try to manage local wildlife and control disease. Read on - may cause distress.

Salmon farming methods and operations

The industry here has operated much the same way for 30 years. Process improvement is not innovation. Overseas aquaculture is being moved to self-contained land facilities, to eliminate pollution, reduce disease and manage the impacts of ocean warming. Yet here in Tasmania?

Financial returns

Foreign owned salmon producers pay little to use our waterways and fresh water. In other parts of the world leases cost far more, and much of the money raised goes to local communities. Not so in Tasmania. Changing leasing arrangements to the Norwegian model could raise $2 billion for community development.

Governance, regulation and standards

The Tasmanian industry has ongoing issues of environmental, noise and light pollution, marine and microplastic debris, fish stock mortalities, wildlife cruelty, and mass escapes. Yet they complain about too much regulation, while government repeats industry claims of 'world's best practice'. The conclusion is clear: either the standards and regulation are lax, or compliance and policing is poor. Or both.

Industry Employment

Employment is very important in areas where the industry is concentrated, but fish farms employ only around 1% of the Tasmanian workforce. Industry and government regularly exaggerate and cherry-pick. There will be no employment when ocean warming means the industry cannot operate with its present methods. Read on . . .