Tasmanian salmon farming under scrutiny as Greens push land-based policy.
Australia’s $1.3 billion Tasmanian salmon industry is facing renewed political and media pressure, with the Greens proposing a full transition from marine to land-based farming systems.
The proposal, announced this week by Tasmanian Greens Senator Nick McKim, includes $50 million in federal funding for environmental remediation and a jobs transition package. It follows a series of recent controversies in the sector, including mass mortalities and welfare-related certification losses.
The Greens’ plan would require companies to self-fund the transition to land-based Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS), a move industry representatives have described as economically and technically unrealistic.
Luke Martin, outgoing CEO of industry body Salmon Tasmania, told ABC News the policy amounted to “voodoo economics,” citing prohibitive infrastructure, energy, and land requirements. “It is just not economically possible. I don’t believe it’s environmentally feasible and certainly the engineering considerations are very complex as well,” Martin said.
The campaign has received extensive national coverage, with ABC News highlighting the environmental rationale behind the Greens’ stance, including pressure to protect the endangered Maugean skate and reduce disease and pollution impacts.
While Atlantic salmon in Tasmania is already raised in freshwater hatcheries before transfer to marine pens, industry figures have acknowledged limited scope for increasing the time fish spend on land during early grow-out phases. Full-cycle land-based farming is seen as cost-prohibitive in remote areas like Tasmania.
Tasmania’s three major salmon producers—Tassal, Huon, and Petuna—are all foreign-owned. The sector produced nearly 75,000 tonnes in FY 2022–23.
Canada, the world’s fourth-largest salmon producer, has also committed to transitioning its west coast industry to land by 2029—prompting concern from its domestic industry over the cost and viability of such a shift.
The issue has become a flashpoint in the ongoing Australian federal election campaign, particularly in Tasmania’s Franklin electorate, where independent candidate and long-time anti-salmon advocate Peter George is contesting the seat.