The salmon farming industry is in denial about the shocking number of salmon that died last year, with CEO John Whittington describing it on ABC Radio as “a fact of life”.
There is nothing normal about the sheer number of salmon that died in fish farms during 2025. Four million dead salmon – about a quarter of the annual total produced by the industry – is death on a massive scale. Disease is running rampant in salmon pens.
The industry dismisses this mass animal cruelty as normal farm losses, but that’s not true. Tasmanian salmon death rates look to be much larger than animals in other factory farms, such as chicken or cows.
The number of salmon deaths got worse as waters warmed in November and December last year, even though the industry pumped large amounts of antibiotics into the marine environment. This is an alarming sign of an industry out of control.
The worst of this summer’s salmon mortalities are still to come. How many fish will die as waters continue to warm until at least April this year?
Premier Rockliff needs to face the facts. There is nothing sustainable about the salmon farming industry. Instead of allowing the industry to dump more antibiotics as the summer heats up, the proper response should be to destock diseased pens.
