Description

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is a member of the family salmonidae, which also includes rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) .

Atlantic salmon were first introduced into Tasmania by Acclimatisation Societies in the 1800s, but fish released into the Derwent River failed to ever reappear.
More recently, atlantic salmon were introduced from Canada to New South Wales in the mid-1960s for the Snowy Mountains power scheme lakes. In the late 1960s the Commonwealth Government banned all imports of Salmonid genetic material in order to prevent exotic diseases entering Australia.

The atlantic salmon did not reproduce naturally in New South Wales, as the climate proved too warm. Tasmania acquired eggs from the New South Wales hatchery in the early 1980s and commercial production in Tasmania commenced in the mid-1980s. Eggs from New South Wales have been imported into Western Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia, but currently only Tasmania and South Australia have sea farming operations.

Rainbow trout are also exotic to Australia, having been introduced from the west coast of America. The species has developed successful wild breeding populations in some areas (subsequent to stocking with hatchery bred fish). Rainbow trout grown in saline waters are marketed as ­ocean trout�.

Farming Development

Atlantic salmon is farmed almost entirely in Tasmania, although a commercial operation has now also commenced in South Australia off Cape Jaffa.
South Australia reported production of 64 tonnes valued at around $600 000 in 2001-02.

Atlantic salmon is also grown in freshwater farming systems in the cooler (north east) regions of Victoria.

Victorian production of atlantic salmon is not reported separately, but aggregated with trout.

The Tasmanian salmonid farming industry currently comprises fourteen commercial operations including hatcheries, nine of which operate seafarms as part of their operations.

The majority of Tasmania�s atlantic salmon farms are located in the South East in the Huon River, Port Esperance and D�Entrecasteaux Channel, and Tasman Peninsula areas. Other farms are located in Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast, and in the Tamar estuary on the North Coast. Most farmers have grown both rainbow trout (ocean trout) and atlantic salmon, but due to relative performance factors in the two species, rainbow trout production occurs predominantly in Macquarie Harbour, and more recently in the Tamar estuary.

Tasmania�s production of farmed salmonids has risen eightfold since 1989-90, when 1750 tonnes was produced. Hot, dry summers in 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01 caused difficulties in feeding and growing the fish. Better conditions (lower water temperatures and no jellyfish) were experienced in 2001-02, but biomass performance was still less than ideal.

More recently, the wet, cool spring of 2002 provided some of the best growing conditions for years.

Tasmania produced 14 292 tonnes of atlantic salmon and ocean trout (head on, gilled and gutted), valued at $111.5 million at the farm gate, in 2001-02.

( REF. Australian Aquaculture. Industry profiles for selected species)

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