Tasmanian Alliance for Marine Protection, 25 July 2021
TASMANIAN COMMUNITIES GEAR UP FOR SALMON CONFRONTATION
Prospective overseas buyers closing-in on Australia’s second largest salmon producer will face vocal, coordinated and increasingly militant opposition from communities around the state.
Huon Aquaculture and other salmon producers have already lost community trust in Tasmania and the window for making profits at the expense of the state’s waterways and marine life is closing.
Polls reveal a majority of Tasmanians concerned about declining water quality as a result of industrial salmon production – and that concern is reaching the Australian mainland where half of respondents support a moratorium on expansion.
Now Tasmanian community groups are gearing up to confront the latest threat – a possible buy out of Huon Aquaculture by Brazilian meat giant, JBS.
The Brazilian multinational and a private equity firm, Pacific Equity Partners, are reported to be prospective buyers of Tasmania’s Huon Aquaculture, with bids reportedly closing on Tuesday
The industry is already out of control and beyond the Tasmanian regulators’ ability to rein-in, as Richard Flanagan’s exposé, Toxic, has revealed in detail. Powerful new multinational owners will make this failure worse.
There are also credible reports that West Australian mining magnate, Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, is interested in buying Huon Aquaculture.
Communities would welcome him only if he came with cast-iron guarantees to clean-up the industry and a commitment to a transition to land-based production within a set timeframe.
TAMP and its alliance members are not looking for confrontation with the industry but they are ready to draw a line in the sand against expansion and continued damage to the state’s waterways and marine life. It’s time for a transition to land-based aquaculture to begin in the state.
BACKGROUND
The prospect of a global meat giant like JBS buying Huon Aquaculture is troubling to Tasmanians already holding deep concern about plans to double output within the next nine years.
JBS has a chequered history in the state having bought and then closed a number of meat works – in the case of King Island in the wake of government injections of funds.
The idea that the Bender family might walk away from the business and leave it in the hands of a global giant like JBS is galling.
The prospect of a private equity firm, Pacific Equity Partners that would be answerable to no one, is just as worrying.
The state government and its underfunded regulators have already shown they’re incapable of holding industry to account – the history of Van Dairy, broken up after the failure of authorities to enforce regulations, shows how frail the regulations are.
The regulators face even greater difficulties with the waterborne activities of salmon producers where process and enforcement have been corrupted by unhealthy and opaque relations between government, regulators and the industry.
There are also reports that Australian minerals magnate, Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, is interested in buying Huon Aquaculture following revelations that he recently bought a 7.5 percent stake in the company.
Mr Forrest espouses sustainability in exploiting the oceans and any interest he shows in Huon Aquaculture might be greeted as a hopeful sign of better practice, along with a transition out of coastal waters and on to land, using evolving RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture Systems). More than $2.2 billion is already invested globally in RAS – on every continent except Australia.
If Mr Forrest comes into the state with clear goals, guarantees of improvements and proof that he intends to follow-though on promises, he will be welcomed.
If, on the other hand, he bought Huon Aquaculture expecting to continue current practice and expand, he will be greeted as a carpetbagger and face determined opposition from all Tasmanians.
Industry observers already note Huon Aquaculture is struggling financially in the wake of big losses last financial year and falling stock market value. It’s estimated that the company is in need of a $100million injection of capital.
Insiders say the Peter and Frances Bender – who own at least 50% of the shares – have been wanting to sell for some considerable time but trading conditions and stock market values have delayed their plans.
