Most Recent Posts
Elevating Your Hiring Strategy
13 Mar 2024
LAST November, the Federal member for Denison Andrew Wilkie tweeted that he would not be eating Tasmanian salmon any more and was advocating a boycott of the product. A few days later an article appeared on the Mamamia website entitled “Why I won’t buy Australian farmed salmon again.”
Since Christmas, Tasmanians have been subjected to a barrage of advertising that directly compares fish farming with the discharge of raw human sewage.
The tactics being used to attack Tasmania’s salmon industry are being drawn directly from the decades-long campaign against forestry.
Where environmental groups once hailed aquaculture as the key to protecting wild fisheries, the same groups now deride salmon farming as “industrial fishing.”
Innovative local companies that have grown from start-ups are now labelled as “Big Salmon”, while the thousands of Tasmanians who derive their livelihood from fish farming are ignored or demonised.
Claims by some environmentalists that they don’t want to shut the industry down are disingenuous. The infamous “dinghy poo” advertisement, on high-rotation across Tasmanian TV screens, and calls for a national boycott are both squarely aimed at critical brand damage on Tasmanian salmon.
This gratuitous destruction needs to be challenged. It’s time for a sense check.
It’s not that long ago that the only Tasmanian products you’d see in mainland supermarkets would be apples.
But over the past two decades, the state’s economic base has radically changed, and perceptions of Tasmania have changed with it.
Tasmania is now a byword for quality. For most Australians wanting to impress people at a barbecue, it’s now a good idea to turn up with an Esky full of Tasmanian beer, wine, cheese and salmon.
Aquaculture is a pillar of brand Tasmania – fresh, sustainable, high-quality produce.
From pretty humble beginnings just 20 years ago, the Tasmanian aquaculture industry now generates over 5000 direct and indirect jobs.
The industry is built on Tasmania’s natural advantages for fish farming, on the foresight of people who saw the potential, and on the dedication of a committed workforce.
Tasmania is well-placed to capitalise on the growing demand for high-quality, sustainable sources of protein among the expanding Asian middle class. It’s projected that global seafood farming will need to more than double by 2030. Meanwhile, Australians are eating more fish than ever: about 19 kilograms per person per year, up from about 10 kilograms in the 1960s.
The big grocery chains like Woolworths and Coles would love to sell more fish, but they can’t source enough consistently to meet demand.
AWU members who work in the industry understand that the health of the industry is dependent on the health of the marine environment. Aquaculture and marine conservation are not competing priorities, they are two sides of the same coin. Other countries, however, do not take the same rigorous approach we do.
If our salmon industry goes by the wayside, the gap will be filled, and the jobs will be taken, by producers in Asia or South America.
The State Government must ensure that agencies such as the EPA are properly resourced - not just to protect the marine environment, but also to ensure consumers can have every confidence in the product they are buying.
The Australian Workers’ Union, as the representative voice of aquaculture workers, has started a campaign to build support for the salmon industry and protect local jobs.
It’s called Tassie Salmon: Our Jobs, Our Future — and it’s already catching on.
Over 1000 people have signed an online pledge to support the industry, and even more people are following the campaign’s Facebook page.
The beauty of the campaign is that it’s being driven by workers, their families, their friends, and their neighbours.
Of course, aquaculture companies must learn from experience, and be prepared to own up to their mistakes.
Failing to do so plays into the hands of the extremists who want to shut them down, and who rejoice in failure.
But Tasmania needs the sustainable long-term jobs aquaculture can provide.
Daniel Walton is the National Secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union.
BACK