$2b China salmon hope: Visiting high-power delegation talks of rapid growth

CHINESE business interests flagged a salmon industry worth $2 billion during visits to Tasmania last week.

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CHINESE business interests flagged a salmon industry worth $2 billion – or double its aim by 2030 – during visits to Tasmania last week.

Visiting Chinese Commercial Counsellor Madam Liu Yu raised the figure as she met industry representatives and toured salmon production facilities.

Chinese investors have been presented with a list of opportunities in the booming sector, currently worth $500 million.

The industry has said its aim is to grow to $1 billion by 2030, doubling its current workforce of 1550 employees.

Tasmanian Salmonid Growers Association chief Adam Main said the interest from China expressed by Madam Liu was already strong.

“She was actually asking if it could be a $2 billion industry,” Dr Main added.

“They realise the points of differentiation between our fish and those of Norway, Chile and other salmon-growing regions.

“They have a very real interest.

“She wants to see that we are strategic, we are growing and what are the opportunities for bigger growth.”

Dr Main said investment could result in new hatcheries, research centres, innovative farming and better supply chains to get Tasmanian salmon onto Chinese supermarket shelves.

He said a package to attract Chinese food tourists was also in the works.

“The challenge when the President visited was having big enough projects ready to go,” he said.

“There’s a range of opportunities from small, couple-of-million dollar projects to multi-million-dollar projects that we should be looking at for the next five years as a strategy.”

Only a small percentage of Tasmanian salmon reaches the Chinese market at present but a premium market in Japan is providing the model for expansion.

“It’s seen as a reward, as a food that you have at a celebration so they’re prepared to pay premium price for that,” Dr Main said.

Environmental concerns over fish farming that have resulted in a Senate inquiry were explained by the industry at the meeting.