Huon Aquaculture is proposing to develop an Australian-first “salmon nursery” at its Whale Point industrial site in Port Huon.
“We have been watching the development of land-based technologies for some time and we are preparing to take our first step toward it with a new “salmon-nursery,’ says Huon Aquaculture CEO and Managing Director, Peter Bender.
The concept is a relatively simple one which will see young salmon grown (smolt) grown on land to much larger sizes before being transferred to sea pens.
“The benefit of a salmon nursery is that we get to research the fish as they grow and see how they perform in land-based growing facilities. It also means that the time the fish are at sea is reduced with will further improve the company’s environmental performance through longer fallowing and improved biosecurity,’ he said.
“We expect that the new facility will generate around 200 jobs during construction and a further 10 once it becomes operational.
“The proposed new facility is still in concept stage and we are keen to have community input into every step of the development process so that we can include the communities views in our design and decision making.
Interested neighbours and community members are invited to attend an information session about the proposed “salmon nursery” at the Kermandie Hotel on Monday 10 April at 6pm to see early stage concept plans and discuss the project.
Whale Point community consultation