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Bruny Island Ocean Farming Initiative

11/05/2025
Richard Ling photo CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Richard Ling photo CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I am a resident of Bruny Island and like many who live here, are deeply concerned about the salmon farms and the impact they have on communities around the Channel and Tasmania. Organisations like NOFF do a great job of trying reel the industry in but it's difficult when government and opposition bend to the will of the salmon industry. Protect the jobs at all costs!

What does frustrates me about the salmon farming debate is that the two sides argue their case but nobody offers up much of a solution. I have always wondered about the current setup of the salmon farming industry and whether there is another way to do aquaculture that creates jobs and is 100% sustainable. My gut feel is all the salmon related jobs that people are worried about losing now if the industry shutdown will be gone anyway, whether it's 5 years away or 10. There is a certain inevitability about it. What will happen to those precious salmon industry jobs then?

So adopting a different, non-confrontational approach to the issue, reprinted below is an opinion piece that has been circulated on Bruny Island. It's looking at another method of aquaculture that one day could supplant the salmon farms and save those jobs that the salmon industry and government use as an excuse for propping up this toxic industry. It is a long term strategy but these salmon farms aren't going to disappear overnight. With NOFF and all the other anti-salmon organisations continuing their campaigns, if we can grow a network of ocean farms at the same time, we can create a pincer movement and eventually squeeze them out.

Here's the opinion piece:

A New Opportunity For Bruny Island?

Jobs and employment opportunities are always an issue in any rural community. On Bruny, hospitality and tourism are the biggest employers. I would like to start some community discussion about creating a new source of sustainable employment on Bruny that has the potential to be a major employer.

It's called Ocean Farming, a form of aquaculture that is an environmentally friendly and sustainable method of growing food. A method that is very well established with a global footprint, has a 10 year track record of success, is relatively simple to establish and doesn't require massive amounts of capital to setup. Its ideally suited to the Channel waters off Bruny. If all that sounds a bit too good to be true, please read on.....

Ocean Farming involves the growing of shellfish – mussels, scallops and oysters plus kelp for harvesting. Kelp has many, many uses, more than you can imagine. The farms are completely self-sufficient and sustainable. No inputs such as fertiliser, chemicals or feeds are required. They are barely visible with all activity happening below the surface, act as artificial reefs, attracting fish and other wildlife and perhaps best of all, through the shellfish, act as natural water filtration systems. Even just one Ocean Farm in the channel would be cleaning our precious waterway, not polluting it. Finally, an Ocean Farm also can also rebuild and restore a damaged marine ecosystem, turning an ocean desert into a place teeming with sea life.

Every Bruny Islander owes it to themselves, their children and their neighbours to watch at least the first of these videos. The website links provide practical information, how it works and comprehensive guides to establishing an Ocean Farm.

So I'll assume you have watched the video and take this a bit further.

Envisage the Bruny community creating a co-op to raise funds to establish and then operate a GreenWave aquaculture farm.

The first step would be raise the funds or get a grant to do a full feasibility and business plan to establish its viability first. If it's a goer, it will create jobs here on Bruny and become a demonstration site for further farms in the Channel. With time, the flow on effect is more job opportunities on the water and land, similar to the existing salmon industry such as marine services, transport, hatchery operations, distribution, retail, tourism sales and marketing......

The difference between the salmon farming industry and Ocean Farming is one is on a knife's edge in terms of long term viability versus the other which is truly sustainable aquaculture with unlimited growth and employment potential. Also, one industry could also be said to be polluting our waterways, the other is a big filtration system that would be actively cleaning them. What would you prefer? It would be nice to think that Tasmania could transition from an existing industry with dubious community benefits to one that is beyond question environmentally friendly and infinitely sustainable. All the while supporting jobs and long term employment.

Coming up will be information sessions on both North and South Bruny. They will be used to provide more information, gather suggestions and gauge the level of support and public interest in the project. Keep an eye out for location and dates.

Remember, from little things, big things grow. Just like the salmon industry started here a few decades ago......