• EPA Tasmania
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  • Regulation & Assessment
  • Sustainability
  • Policy & Legislation

Salmon Aquaculture

Salmon aquaculture has undergone a significant expansion in Tasmania since the 1990s, largely driven by consumer demand, and this is expected to increase over the next twenty years. The industry growth must be managed sustainably, and while development assessments are undertaken in a separate government process, the EPA is responsible for the day to day environmental regulation of the salmon industry in Tasmania.
  • Industry Regulation
    Over the past 20 years, the growth in the salmon industry has seen an increase in the number and size of freshwater hatcheries and marine farms at various locations around the State. In 2016, the EPA became the industry's environmental regulator, responsible for ensuring that impacts on inland waters and the marine environment are reduced to an acceptable level and the health of the environment is protected.
  • Environmental Management
    A number of freshwater hatcheries and numerous marine farming leases are in operation around the State for salmon farming. The industry is undergoing a change in environmental regulation to match the significant growth in the industry and the increasing potential for environmental impact.
  • Macquarie Harbour
    Macquarie Harbour is subject to a range of environmental conditions that influence its hydrology, water quality and benthic environment, which makes interpretation of observations in the context of salmon production particularly complex.
  • News and Information
    **Further information on consultation underway is available here.** News and information relating to the EPA's regulation of the salmon industry since taking up this role after June 2016 are provided. Where there is significant public interest in an area, the EPA is committed to providing adequate, accurate and timely information via web publishing, broadcasting via the media and responding to media inquiries, providing active disclosure in preference to assessed disclosure where possible and practical.
  • Okehampton Bay
    Okehampton Bay Marine Farming Lease #236 is located on the East Coast within the Great Oyster Bay and Mercury Passage Marine Farming Development Area. Currently the main lease holder is Spring Bay Seafoods Pty Ltd, with a portion subleased to Tassal Group Ltd. In the past, the lease was used for the farming of mussels and seaweed. Tassal received approval from the Marine Farming Planning Review Panel to farm finfish at the lease in February 2017.
  • D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Huon and Port Esperance
    The area covered by the D’Entrecasteaux Channel Marine Farming Development Plan February 2002 covers the stretch of water between Bruny Island and the mainland of Tasmania, running north south in orientation for approximately 50 km. To the north the Channel adjoins the Derwent Estuary and to the south the Southern Ocean.
  • Norfolk Bay
    The Tasman Peninsula and Norfolk Bay Marine Farming Development Plan 2005 covers the waters of Norfolk Bay, Wedge Bay, Port Arthur and Long Bay. Huon Aquaculture has been granted a Permit and Environmental Licence for the temporary operation of its Green Head Farmiing Lease at Green Head.
  • Land Based Finfish Farms
    Land based finfish farms holding over 2 tonnes or producing over 5 tonnes of fish are regulated by the EPA.