MEDIA RELEASE – An industry out of control: Salmon companies use massive doses of florfenicol, 30 June 2026
Statement by Peter George, Independent MP for Franklin:
If ever more evidence was needed that Tasmanian waters are no place for industrial salmon, then news that in just 4 months, a total of 5,300 kg of florfenicol were used in diseased fish pens is proof in plenty.
By comparison, Norway’s industry is up to 20 times bigger but uses a mere 750kg in a whole year.
Tasmanians have every right to be outraged that more than five tonnes of the antibiotic, florfenicol, were dumped in diseased salmon pens in our sheltered southeastern waterways last summer with the impact that had on our marine life.
They have every right to be appalled that regulators approved the treatment without ensuring that wild fisheries, like rock lobster and abalone, would not be impacted.
Moreover, Tasmanians have every reason to ask why it took months for the EPA to reveal the extent of the treatments when the regulator should have insisted on day-by-day data and implemented contemporaneous reporting to Tasmanians.
The multinationals that run the industry in Tasmania want to resume the use of florfenicol as our waters warm towards next summer and beyond.
They must be refused.
