In its first unified move to counter anti-fish farm campaigns, business leaders connected to the Tasmanian salmon industry have formed an alliance to talk up its importance as an employer and a contributor to the state’s economy.
Key points:
- The Tasmanian Farmed Salmon Alliance has about 12 active members and will highlight the industry’s economic benefits
- Members say the industry employs 12,000 people in Tasmania
- Anti-fish farm campaigners also held a meeting to call for a boycott of salmon products
The Spectran Group’s Mark Hindmarsh does environmental monitoring for the fish farm industry and has signed up to the Tasmanian Farmed Salmon Alliance.
“I think if people took the opportunity to understand what these businesses do and how we work together to achieve the greater good there’d be a more positive outcome from it.”
The alliance has been organised by Tasmania’s three major salmon producers — Tassal, Huon and Petuna — and a few key stakeholders.
Over the last three decades the value of Tasmania’s salmon industry has grown to around $1 billion and there are plans to double that by 2030.
But the burgeoning local sector has not been without controversy.
In 2017, it was revealed high stocking limits at Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania’s west coast had created a ‘dead zone’ around a Tassal lease.
Tasmania’s largest fish farmer was forced to destock the Franklin lease and the EPA slashed the harbour’s overall stocking limit.
Later that year locals launched an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to oppose new fish farming leases at Okehampton Bay on Tasmania’s east coast.
Alliance insists local industry is ‘world class’
Earlier this year, Booker Prize-winning author Richard Flanagan — who owned a shack on Bruny Island close to several fish farming leases — released the book Toxic, which accused the industry of polluting pristine Tasmanian waterways and the state government of regulatory failure.
In a statement to the stock exchange in August, Tassal conceded the book had been “unsettling to the industry”, and in state parliament primary industries minister Guy Barnett referred to “dark forces” trying to bring the sector down.
John De Bruyn, general manager of logistics company De Bruyn’s Transport, said a big part of the alliance’s job would be highlighting the importance of the industry as a regional employer in Tasmania.
“We think [the alliance] is a fantastic initiative to try and get those positive messages out and dispel some of the misinformation,” he said.
“I’ve been involved in this industry for 10 years now and I’ve been to Norway and Canada and have done extensive research into how their industries are run.
Read More: Tasmanian salmon industry enlists business partners for fightback campaign