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.”