In just over three decades, commercial salmon farms in Tasmania have gone from nothing to an industry worth $1 billion a year and employing thousands of people.
The latest Tasmanian Agri-Food Scorecard puts the value of farmed salmon in Tasmania at $796 million, but that rises to just over $1 billion when the salmon is processed.
The figures are stark when you combine the value of the two other big Tasmanian agricultural industries dairy and beef which come in at $792 million, still lower than the salmon industry.
There were 14 players in the early days of salmon farming, but that has now whittled down to three major players, Huon, Tassal and Petuna.
A real pioneer for the salmon industry was Trevor Dix who was head of the Fisheries Research Laboratory at Taroona and received the first salmon eggs from NSW.
Trevor Dix, who was also instrumental in the Tasmanian oyster industry, made the prediction those eggs could provide the state’s most valuable fishery.
Frances and Peter Bender were cattle farmers in the Huon Valley in southern Tasmania and started Huon Aquaculture as a trial in the 1980s.
“The first hurdle to overcome was the domestic market as Australians didn’t know what fresh Atlantic Salmon was and we couldn’t sell it locally,” Mrs Bender said.
“The first year’s production of 50 tonnes was all sold to the Japanese market who knew their salmon, and we’re still sending fish there.
“The nets and pen weren’t strong enough for Tasmanian conditions and the feed was not appropriate, so we started inventing our own equipment,” Mrs Bender said.
A targeted campaign involving top-end restaurants across the country and the use of ambassadors like chef Tetsuya Wakuda by Brand Tasmania worked a treat.
The Japanese connection was not lost on the marketing of salmon in Australia and Tetsuya Wakuda was a natural choice having relocated from Japan to Australia.
Another well-known chef Iain Hewitson was involved in a national advertising campaign for the salmon industry and featured the fish in his TV cooking show.
The major supermarkets also played a role while Tassal opened salmon shops in Salamanca and in Melbourne to push the value of the fish as an easy-to-cook protein source.
So, Australians caught on quickly to eating fresh salmon and the rise of cooking shows on television has made the fish a weekly staple for families across the country.
The explosion of the industry over the past decade has been pushed along by two of the companies Huon and Tassal being publicly listed on the ASX.
This meant access to more capital for expansion after the early years where finance was hard to come by as the industry was an unknown quantity.
“We’d reached the point in our business where we couldn’t stay farming in our on-shore site and there was no room for growth,” Mrs Bender said.
The expansion of the salmon industry is a two-edged sword for the growers, the public and the Tasmanian Government which has shown strong support for the industry.
Locals who live near the fish farms in Tasmania’s south have complained about noise and pollution and concerns over the perceived changes in waterways.
Many of those locals have put in some of the over 200 submissions received by a Tasmanian Upper House Inquiry into the Fin Fish industry which is continuing.
A new Tassal fish farm on Tasmania’s East Coast which is projected to hold 800,000 fish has also prompted protests.
Some fisherman, local shack owners and conservationists are worried about the environmental impact of the farm, with the area a popular fishing and tourist destination.
2020 ABC