Balancing the scales with responsible aquaculture

Richard Flanagan’s book Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry brings up many important issues brought on by the growth of salmon farming in Tasmania, but to say all farms are equal is just not true — according to Duncan Leadbitter, Australian head of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).

With salmon replacing chicken in many Australians’ diet, Flanagan claims it has now become the “battery hen of the sea”.

Leadbitter welcomes the debate created by Toxic, but he says it oversimplifies complex challenges. He says there are responsible aquaculture farms in Australia that are doing the right thing by the environment and their communities.

“Our organisation manages standards for responsibly farmed seafood. These standards operate in a similar fashion to other types of standards that the public is familiar with, such as standards for organic and Fairtrade production. There are currently nine active leases for salmon farms in Australia certified to the ASC standard, all of which are located in the south-east of Tasmania.

“While we can’t make assurances about all Tasmanian salmon farms, what we can say with certainty is if a consumer sees the ASC logo, they know the product came from a farm that has demonstrated, to an independent third party, that its production has met the world’s strictest standards to minimise its environmental and social impacts.”

Sharing the author’s passion for protecting the environment, the ASC’s mission began around a decade ago as salmon farming wasn’t being held to sufficient standards.

“We know that farming can have negative impacts if farms are not managed properly and held to strict standards, but this is true of all food production.

“But rather than generalising about entire industries, we think it is better to individually assess producers based on their performance and help develop market incentives to support those that operate at the highest standard.

“Why? Because for starters, overall, a well-managed farm has very little impact on biodiversity, and producing farmed fish has the lowest greenhouse gas production per kilo of almost all animal proteins.”

An evidence-based science program, the ASC has expertise on the subject with more than 10 years of research, development and working with farms and scientists to improve the environmental and social performance of farms.

“This means ASC-certified salmon farms must, among other things, source feed responsibly, prevent escapes, keep fish healthy without using antibiotics preventatively and maintain high water quality.

“The first principle of all ASC standards is that farms should obey their local laws and regulations, and ASC respects the role of government in setting these laws according to local need. However, if a farm’s location is in accordance with the law but it doesn’t meet the ASC environmental and social standards, it would not be certified.

“Every person should be aware of the issues posed by unsustainable farming, so that they can make an informed choice about what they eat. But we need to go a step further, by acknowledging the complexities of feeding a rapidly growing population and looking into the environmental and social impacts of replacing seafood with alternative protein sources.”

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