Richard Dowling (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit a number of Huon aquaculture sites in Southern Tasmania. When people debate salmon farming in this place or in the media, it can sometimes feels like an abstract policy discussion. But, when you're standing on a working aquaculture site in Tasmania, it becomes very clear what we're talking about. We're talking about jobs, and we're talking about regional communities. We're talking about one of Tasmania's most important industries. Our salmon industry today is Australia's most valuable seafood sector, worth around $1.36 billion, supporting more than 5,100 full-time jobs and with nine out of 10 of those jobs located in regional Tasmania. In the Huon Valley alone, more than one in four jobs are connected to the salmon industry. Just think about that for a moment—one in four jobs. That means, in towns across Southern Tasmania, places like Dover, Port Huon and the Channel, this industry is not just part of the local economy; it is the local economy. Huon aquaculture alone employs more than 900 Tasmanians and spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year with local suppliers and businesses across the state. That means electricians, engineers, marine mechanics, transport operators and food processors across regional Tasmania.

Here's something worth remembering: in national debate, salmon farming is sometimes discussed as though it's a niche industry; in Tasmania, it's anything but. It's one of the engines of the regional economy, and what struck me most during my visit was something else entirely. Modern Tasmanian aquaculture bears little resemblance to the caricature sometimes presented in public debate. What I saw was technology, what I saw was science, and what I saw was an industry investing heavily to improve environmental performance. Across Tasmania, the salmon industry has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development, working alongside institutions such as the CSIRO and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. These partnerships underpin world-leading environmental monitoring, modelling ocean currents, nutrients and temperature changes around our coastline. This industry understands a simple truth: if you want aquaculture to succeed in Tasmania, you must protect the waters that sustain it. At a time when global food demand continues to grow, aquaculture is one of the most efficient ways to produce sustainable protein. Ocean based salmon farming produces less than half the emissions of many land based proteins. Tasmania produces around 90 per cent of Australia's farmed salmon, much of which is consumed right here in Australia. That means healthy, locally produced food on Australian tables while reducing pressure on wild fish stocks.

Before I finish, let me just address a few myths we often hear about this industry. 'Salmon farms are the battery hens of the sea'—false. The stocking density is 99 per cent water to one per cent fish, and Tasmania's density for commercial aquaculture is the lowest in the world, even better than the RSPCA recommends. The reality is that salmon has one of the lowest carbon footprints of any animal protein, dramatically lower than beef and far lower than most land based farming. It's often said that salmon farms are floating feedlots. But the reality is that salmon farms operate under strict environmental monitoring, including seabed surveys, oxygen monitoring and biomass limits. Another myth is that salmon farming is poorly regulated. The reality is that aquaculture in Tasmania is one of the most tightly monitored food industries in the country. Myth—salmon farms are bad for the environment; fact—people working in this industry depend on clean, healthy water more than anyone. Their livelihoods literally depend on having clean water. We're told this industry should simply disappear. But the point that often gets missed is that, if Australia stops producing salmon, the demand does not magically disappear; it simply shifts to countries where lower environmental standards are in place and there's weaker regulation. So the real choice is not whether salmon will be farmed; the real choice is whether we produce food responsibly, under strict environmental standards, right here locally in Australia and Tasmania.

That brings me to my final point. Tasmania has always been a place that feeds the nation. Our farmers do it. Our fishers do it. And, today, our aquaculture workers are doing it too. The future of this industry will not be written by those shouting from the sidelines; it will be written by Tasmanians who head out on the water before dawn, doing the hard work of producing sustainable food for the country. That is something this parliament should respect, support and stand behind.