The Tasmanian majority Liberal Government is a strong supporter of our world class salmon industry and the latest snapshot supports its sustainable growth.
In 2018 the Tasmanian Government released the Sustainable Industry Growth Plan for the Salmon Industry, including a scorecard that benchmarks the industry against international regulatory best practice.
To support the snapshot, the Government requested the Environmental Protection Authority undertake a review of monitoring practices in other salmon-growing countries.
While this report is currently under peer review, it is clear from the review that current environmental monitoring requirements in Tasmania compare well with other countries where salmonid aquaculture is undertaken.
Monitoring in Tasmania is through a combination of on-farm monitoring, broad scale monitoring and assessment of sediment and water quality.
Tasmania’s environmental monitoring is world class with 100 per cent of leases conducting environmental monitoring and 94 per cent of benthic monitoring surveys being compliant.
The draft review undertaken by the EPA that informs the snapshot found that key environmental indicators were critical to effective monitoring and that visual assessment techniques used in Tasmania were robust and effective.
In releasing this 2018-19 scorecard snapshot the Tasmanian Liberal Government believes it should give the community confidence that the salmon industry continues to grow sustainably and is managed through strong independent regulations and world class science.
The scorecard snapshot can be found at: (https://salmonfarming.dpipwe.tas.gov.au/the-environment). The draft review of Tasmanian and International Regulatory Requirements for Salmonid Aquaculture can be found at: (https://epa.tas.gov.au/regulation/salmon-aquaculture/industry-regulation).