CSIRO survey finds drop in community support for Tasmanian salmon industry
A report into community attitudes towards Tasmania's salmon industry says it held an "enviable" social licence for most of its existence. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)
In short:
A report by Australia's national science agency has found Tasmania's salmon farming industry has experienced a "significant and sustained shift" away from strong community support it experienced a decade ago.
The CSIRO surveyed 931 Tasmanians across eight groups, including government, commercial fishers, marine scientists, advocacy groups, water enthusiasts, tourism operators, the general public, and the aquaculture industry.
What's next?
Industry body Salmon Tasmania says it works under some of the strictest regulations in the world, and is backed by "excellent practices and the very best science".
For decades, Tasmania’s salmon industry enjoyed an “enviable” social license as a broadly respected sector of the economy, but a new report suggests that is no longer the case.
The CSIRO recently published a report into results of a 2025 survey of Tasmanian residents’ connection to, and concern for, the local marine environment.
The survey aimed to assess values, perceived threats, levels of environmental concern, and stakeholder views on the performance of a number of marine industries.
It found the salmon industry experienced a "significant and sustained shift from the strong community support experienced from 1986 to 2015 when the industry held an 'enviable' social licence to operate".
The report's authors, behavioural scientist Dr Corrine Condie and marine scientist Dr Scott Condie, said "salmon aquaculture stands out as the only local industry posing both a significant threat and a major concern" among respondents.
Report authors Dr Scott Condie and Dr Corrine Condie found salmon aquaculture remains the most contested industry sector among respondents. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
Aquaculture support drops
The new report, entitled 'Troubled waters or shared futures?' details the results of a questionnaire sent around the state in April 2025 to more than 900 Tasmanians with an interest in the marine environment.
The groups surveyed included aquaculture workers, marine scientists, government employees, commercial fishers, marine tourism operators, environmental and Aboriginal advocacy groups and recreational water users.
According to the survey, more than 90 per cent of respondents said Tasmania's waterways were central to their way of life, and 70 per cent were "worried or angry" about its health.
Advocacy groups, water enthusiasts, and tourism operators identified salmon aquaculture as their highest concern in the report. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)
It also found negative views of the salmon farming industry's "social licence" are now held by all groups they surveyed, except those employed by it.
It defines social licence as "the level of acceptance or approval an industry earns from the community, its stakeholders, and the broader public".
The researchers conducted a survey of sentiment toward the salmon industry in 2021, when they found greater support for the industry from the groups they questioned.
Since that time, marine scientists and government and local council employees have developed broadly negative views of the industry.
Dr Corrine Condie said the only metric for which perceptions had improved was the industry's economic input to the state.
"Across all groups, including advocacy groups, economic growth and development [perception] has improved," she said.
"People around the state realise the benefits that salmon aquaculture provides from an economic and regional growth perspective."
Dr Scott Condie and Dr Corrine Condie said aquaculture stands out for its consistently negative ratings across both environmental sustainability and good governance. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
Rebuilding social licence a 'long-term commitment'
The report's authors said the survey showed debate was about the industry's demonstrated environmental credibility, perceptions of good governance, and genuine communication and engagement.
Dr Scott Condie said he did not think there was a point where the economic benefits of the industry would be so valuable that respondents would ignore the other attributes.
"This is a story that goes back to 2015 … where we've had multiple events driving up levels of concern," he said.
"There's a long-term trend here."
He said that prior to 2015, the salmon industry was viewed positively within Tasmania and received positive media coverage.
"People were actually enthusiastic about it,"Dr Scott Condie said.
"It was a relatively new, growing industry, providing lots of employment … and the scale of it was smaller at that stage, so the impacts were significantly less."
The report's authors said between 1986 and 2015 the industry held an "enviable" social license to operate, but it had become increasingly contested.
"Rebuilding social license will require a long-term commitment from industry and government to transparency, environmental credibility, and meaningful engagement."
Sentiment not tied to individual controversies
The federal veterinary medicine regulator suspended the Tasmanian salmon industry's emergency licence to use the antibiotic florfenicol to treat a bacterial disease. (Abbey Laboratories)
The researchers said they had conducted their surveys during periods of relative stability in the industry to try and avoid biased results.
They said they had delayed their 2021 survey until six months after the publication of Richard Flanagan's book 'Toxic', which heavily criticised the industry.
Dr Corrine Condie said she would not run a similar survey now, as she believed the debate around the industry's use of the antibiotic florfenicol in the state's south-east had skewed long-term perceptions of the sector.
Last November, an emergency licence to use the antibiotic in salmon was granted to help deal with the bacterial disease piscirickettsiosis, which caused mass mortalities in salmon the previous summer.
The licence was suspended after traces of the antibiotic were found in wild fish, including abalone and rock lobster, more than 10 kilometres away from the closest fish pens.
That followed disease outbreaks that led to mass-mortality events in salmon pens last summer, and changes to environmental laws prior to the May 2025 election to allow salmon farming to continue in Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania's west.
'Excellent practices, best science', industry says
Salmon Tasmania chief executive John Whittington said Tasmanian salmon growers take their responsibilities to their stakeholders and communities extremely seriously.
"We know how many people support what we do, and we know how important our product is to them and their livelihoods,"Dr Whittington said.
"Tasmanian salmon growers are governed by some of the strictest regulations anywhere in the world, and we work with our regulators to ensure that what we do is backed by excellent practices and the very best science."
Dr John Whittington says the antibiotic has been effective at treating piscirickettsiosis. (ABC News: Madeleine Rojahn)
Tasmanian MP Eric Abetz said he expected many Tasmanians would disagree that the industry had lost its social license.
"We look forward to the scientific evidence and information, and we always want the highest environmental standards," he said.
"But I dare say that there are well over 5,000 of our fellow Tasmanians whose livelihood depends on the salmon sector, who would disagree."
Conservation group Environment Tasmania spokesperson Jess Coughlan said the survey results confirm the "salmon industry's social licence has hit rock bottom".
"It speaks volumes that even marine scientists and government workers' attitudes towards the industry has dramatically shifted," Ms Coughlan said.
"This survey shows that Tasmanians have completely lost all trust they once may have had in the factory fish farm companies that are destroying Tasmania's marine environment," Bob Brown Foundation spokesperson Alistair Allan said.