Produce update: Over 1 million Tassie Salmon dumped

An outbreak of the Piscirickettsia salmonis bacterial disease in Tasmanian fish farms triggered a mass death of at least 1 million salmon last month.

Tasmanian waste facilities received over 5,500 tonnes of dead salmon in February, the equivalent of more than 1 million full-grown Atlantic salmon.

The Bob Brown Foundation posted footage on Saturday of live salmon being pumped into bins with dead salmon at Atlantic salmon farmer Huon Aquaculture. The foundation called on the RSPCA to drop their certification of Tasmanian farmed salmon. The RSPCA has since decided to suspend its certification of Huon Aquaculture for 14 days, pending review.

“The inhumane handling of live, sick or injured fish as shown in the video being circulated is completely unacceptable,” the RSPCA said in a statement on Saturday.

“We will continue to follow our established processes in relation to this matter and will have more to say in due course.”

“As the public response to this incident shows, animal welfare in farming is incredibly important to Australians, and this is no different when it comes to aquaculture. Fish are sentient animals capable of pain and suffering, which is why the RSPCA Approved Standard exists in the first place,” said the RSPCA.

Salmon Tasmania Chief Executive Luke Martin said the industry was “dealing with an unprecedented, first-of-its-size, seasonal mortality event in the south-east”. Salmon Tasmania attributed the event to summer conditions and a new strain of the microbe responsible.

Huon Aquaculture is currently undergoing a leadership change, with CEO Henry Batista announcing in January that he was stepping down. Former Pilgrim’s Mexico President Charles von der Heyde will take his place at the helm.

Photograph by Eva Bronzini.