Relevant science first casualty in Four Corners Big Fish doco, says Tassal boss Mark Ryan

UPDATED: Salmon farmer Tassal has defended its practices while claiming an ABC report on the sustainability of the industry “misled consumers, investors and the Tasmanian community”.

SALMON farmer Tassal has defended its practices while claiming an ABC report on the sustainability of the industry “misled consumers, investors and the Tasmanian community”.

Four Corners on Monday reported there had been concerning temperature spikes and dangerous drops in water oxygen levels this year in Macquarie Harbour, where Tassal, Petuna Seafoods and Huon Aquaculture intensively farm salmon.

Huon Aquaculture’s Frances Bender has broken ranks and warned the State Government that fish stocks need to be reduced in the harbour.

MORE: TASSAL EXPANSION ROW

But Tassal managing director and chief executive officer Mark Ryan says he is disappointed the program did not properly considered the “relevant science”.

“Four Corners relied on a single, competitor-directed research study to draw generalisations about Tassal’s and wider operations in Macquarie Harbour,” Mr Ryan said in a statement today.

Frances Bender, from Huon Aquaculture, has aired serious concerns about the environmental implications of growth within the state’s salmon farming sector.

“I am at a loss as to why Four Corners deliberately focused on a scare campaign which largely relied on anecdotal evidence and the beliefs of our commercial competitor in an attempt to make a case against Tassal and the Tasmanian salmon industry.”

The ABC report quoted research by Melbourne University’s Associate Professor Tim Dempster, which was funded by the Fisheries Research Development Corporation.

It suggested conditions in Macquarie Harbour last summer consistently breached the maximum levels salmon can withstand without experiencing sub-lethal stresses and mortalities.

Environment Tasmania today called on the state’s Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff to conduct an open review of salmon industry regulations.

But the minister says the system has already be overhauled so the Environment Protection Agency regulates the industry, including the stocking cap in Macquarie Harbour.

He echoed Tassal’s complaint the ABC report was based on selective science.

“Four Corners did not include the full range of scientific information available on the industry and that’s disappointing,” Mr Rockliff said in a statement.

Tasmania’s salmon industry was among the best regulated in the world, the minister said.

Tassal chief Mark Ryan has hit back at last night’s ABC TV expose on expansion plans in the state’s lucrative salmon farming industry.

Salmon farming is worth about $700 million in the island state, with the Tasmanian Government committed to making it a $1 billion industry by 2030.

Ms Bender, the co-founder of Huon Aquaculture, has recently spoken out about what she says are the current and potential dangers of farming salmon in Tasmania.

MORE: SALMON FARMER SAYS HARBOUR UNDER STRESS

“My comments will be controversial because they’ll be taken that I’m being critical of other players in the industry and I’m being critical of the Government,” Ms Bender told Four Corners.

Ms Bender says she has confidentially briefed the State Government about the need to reduce fish stocks in Macquarie Harbour on three occasions this year.

She says the Government has also seen scientific reports and data relating to concerning temperature spikes and dangerous drops in water oxygen levels.

Originally published as Relevant science first casualty in Four Corners Big Fish doco, says Tassal boss Mark Ryan