News

Salmon conference makes progress on agenda for future of aquaculture

This week’s Global Salmon Conference hosted by IMAS and the University of Tasmania has made important progress towards an understanding of what is required to take the State’s salmon aquaculture industry to the next level.

The three day planning conference was designed to lay the groundwork for a Global Salmon Symposium to be held in Hobart in 2018.

The University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Brigid Heywood said the conference had brought experts from Norway, Faroe Islands, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand together with Tasmanian-based scientists, companies, regulators and community stakeholders.

“Next year’s Global Salmon Symposium is being developed with the ambitious goals of helping to make Tasmania’s salmon industry the most environmentally sustainable in the world and creating an industry that all Tasmanians can be proud of,” Professor Heywood said.

“This week’s conference was designed to identify key areas that local industry, government, community and researchers wish to focus on to ensure we get the best value from the Symposium, and we can now move forward on the basis of what has been discussed.”

On Wednesday, 140 people from government, industry, the research sector and the community were invited to the Day 1 Expert Panel Sessions.  On Thursday, 90 people took part in nine workshop sessions on the major themes of Future Farming, Biosecurity, and Environment.  

“Across the three themes, significant progress has been made in our broad understanding of what is required for the future.

“In Future Farming, discussions highlighted the need for the use of multiple technologies, not a single solution.

“In Biosecurity, the feedback has been that Tasmania can learn from other global producers that have been affected by major diseases to refine our local biosecurity systems.

“In Environment, the workshops noted the extensive environmental monitoring being undertaken and focused on the need to use such data to build community trust and social licence.

“These results will inform a set of Green Papers covering the three theme areas, which will help to identify and develop the key questions that will be addressed in next year’s Symposium.

“The response from participants to this week’s conference has been very positive and on behalf of the University I thank all involved for their participation and constructive contributions,” Professor Heywood said.

Authorised by the Executive Director, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
28 October, 2022