Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know the salmon industry plays an important role in Tasmania as a key industry and employer, but it's under siege, and if community confidence and support are to be restored then changes need to be made and made fast. Indeed, the aquaculture industry in Tasmania is facing a reckoning, turbocharged by the revelations last month of the shocking environmental damage being inflicted on some of the state's most loved places and reinforced by the alarming prospect of the industry doubling in size by 2030, despite the certainty that such unrestrained expansion will cause even worse environmental outcomes and community backlash.

The best way to protect the industry, along with the jobs and economic benefits it provides, is to put it on a genuinely sustainable footing, overseen by a strong and independent regulator. This means an immediate pause on new farms and any expansion being genuinely offshore in deep waters, and only then as a stepping stone to closing the loop on shore farming. Without the salmon industry facing this head on, I have no doubt it will go the way of the forestry industry. Don't get me wrong, the salmon industry can have a bright future in Tasmania, but only if it's on a truly sustainable footing and only if it is overseen by an effective regulator.