Fish farming infrastructure has been installed near Burnie and many are not happy

‘We cannot wreck that ocean’: Anti-fish farm activists say there is no need to conduct a trial of fish farming in the Bass Strait as environmental impacts are evident.

Mary Ogarey from Wynyard, Cass Wright from Squeaking Point and Rohan Paske also from Squeaking Point at the Blue Economy CRC fish farming trial meeting 12 May 2025. Picture: Elise Kaine

Anti fish farm activists are seeing red after salmon farming infrastructure was installed off the coast of Burnie on Monday.

“This is not your ocean,” NWTas for Clean oceans representative Cass Wright told the agency commissioning the trial on Monday night.

“The ocean is not an economy, it is not for making money from,” she said.

“It’s a life source, we depend on it, we cannot wreck that ocean — it’s not just for looking at.

“This is not about us, it is about future generations — you can’t wreck the ocean.”

Blue Economy CRC drop-in regarding fish farming infrastructure off Burnie. Picture: Elise Kaine

The Blue Economy CRC hosted a busy “drop-in” session at the Burnie Surf Life Saving Club which was well attended by fish farm opponents wearing red shirts to signify drawing a “red line in the sand” against salmon farming.

Mrs Wright said there was no need to conduct a trial in the North-West as the environmental impacts from salmon farming can already be seen down south.

Director of Blue Policy & Planning at Blue Economy CRC Angela Williamson told the group there were people outside of the room that wanted to progress industrial finfish farming.

Ms Williamson said it was fantastic to see so many people providing feedback about the trial and encouraged the attendants to keep up to date with the trial on the Blue Economy CRC website.

Director of Blue Policy & Planning at Blue Economy CRC Angela Williamson talks to attendees at Blue Economy CRC drop-in regarding fish farming infrastructure off Burnie. Picture: Elise Kaine

The research centre has state and federal permit approvals to host the 3 year trial of finfish farming in Commonwealth waters 12 kilometres off Burnie.

Mrs Williamson said the centre was now having conversations with the community to understand what matters to them as it starts commissioning the next stage of the research trial.

She said information gathered would be continuously fed back into the research plan.

“If people have ideas on what they want done differently, we are able to capture that and use that moving forward over the three years of the trial,” Ms Williamson said.

The trial involves two fish farming pens in Commonwealth Waters off the coast of Burnie.

Each pen is set to hold 15,000 fish with salmon expected to be stocked in July 2025 and Kingfish in October.

The Blue Economy CRC is conducting research on behalf of 43 partners including the Tasmanian and Australian governments, Tassal, Huon and Petuna.

Originally published as Fish farming infrastructure has been installed near Burnie and many are not happy