Mercury (Hobart)

Green group’s ‘No’ to salmon

-

TASMANIAN salmon has been downgraded to a “Say No” rating by the Australian Marine Conservati­on Society.

The society’s sustainabl­e seafood program manager Adrian Meder said the decision had been taken to recommend against buying Tasmanian-farmed salmon on environmen­tal grounds.

“In the past three years fish farming has had serious impacts on sensitive marine habitats and threatened species, particular­ly in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour,” he said.

“The salmon farming industry bears significan­t responsibi­lity for the environmen­tal impacts in the harbour, and needs to clean up its act.”

The Tasmanian Salmonid Growers Associatio­n said the assessment was “misinforme­d and irresponsi­ble”.

TSGA CEO Adam Main said the assessment failed to factor in improvemen­ts made over the past 12 months.

“Almost half of all seafood eaten in Australia currently comes from aquacultur­e,” he said.

“Of this seafood, salmon continues to have the larger portion of Australian dinner plates, as people turn towards healthier, more sustainabl­e sources of nutrition,” he said.

“For an industry which generates thousands of jobs in Tasmania and strongly supports regional communitie­s in the state, it is disappoint­ing when facts are not represente­d.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Australia