MEDIA RELEASE – Call to close all salmon hatcheries that pollute state's rivers, 6 July 2026

Statement by Peter George, Independent MP for Franklin:

The government must take immediate action to shut down flow-through salmon hatcheries that have been polluting Tasmanian rivers with nutrient overload for years – and now with antibiotics. 

The urgency to take action is highlighted following revelations that Huon Aquaculture’s treatment of diseased fish last summer led to antibiotic residue being found in eels, sediment and water samples in the Derwent River. 

Hobart’s water catchment is too precious and too vulnerable to allow salmon companies to pollute waterways with antibiotics. 

As reported by the Tasmanian Inquirer today, antibiotic traces were found in eels, sediment and water samples in the Derwent River after Huon Aquaculture used around 52kg of antibiotics (oxytetracycline) to treat diseased fish at its Meadowbank hatchery. 

It has got to stop. 

The State government has acknowledged the State’s flow-through hatcheries have to be closed down but done nothing about it. 

Yet again, the salmon companies have shown they make the rules, not the government. 

The Tasmanian Inquirer’s report today is a wakeup call to everyone who lives in the Derwent River catchment that the multinational salmon operations threaten not just the health of waterways but human health as well. 

The salmon companies cannot be allowed to get away with the excuse that they need to protect their diseased fish when human health and the health of critical waterways is threatened in pursuit of profit. The World Health Organisation has declared antibiotic resistance to be one of the world’s most challenging health issues. 

The companies have the capacity to build and operate hatcheries that recycle their water so there’s no excuse to delay closing their flow-through hatcheries – or cease operations altogether.