Tasmanian Salmon

Essie moved back to Tasmania in 2019 and soon after started campaigning alongside the Bob Brown Foundation and the Neighbours of Fish Farming in protest of the salmon industry in Tasmania. The Tasmanian Alliance for Marine Protection estimated that there were over 500 salmon pens around the coast of Tasmania in 2021, for a production of up to 100.000 tonnes of salmon. The industry has been steadily expanding in the region for the last few years, but not without consequences.

Opponents to the expansion of fish farms in Tasmania cite several issues :

• Noise pollution from the machines that keep the pens running at all times and the boat traffic, as well as debris from the pens washing up on the shores.
• Antibiotics and potentially dangerous chemical additives used to treat the salmons from various seaborne diseases, give them their bright colour, and keep their omega-3 levels up. The World Health Organization warned against overuse of antibiotics in particular because of the risk of developping resistant “superbugs”.
• Pollution of Tasmanian waterways, rising temperatures, change of oxygen levels… All leading to a loss of wild life and endangering local species such as the weedy sea dragon, the red handfish, and more recently the maugean skate.
• Seal abuse: because seals come to feed around the salmon farms, industries use explosive devices or even “bean bag rounds” to scare the seals away, sometimes injuring or killing them in the process. It’s estimated that 18 out of 23 seal deaths in 2021 are attributed to Huon Aquaculture.

If you’re interested in learning more about this issue, we highly recommend Richard Flanagan’s book Toxic as well as Justin Kurzel and Conor Castles-Lynch’s documentary Paradise Lost.

Finally, we’ll just add that the issues surrounding salmon farming are being discussed more and more around the world, in regions like Chile, the US, Norway, Scotland…