Westbury business fears around salmon industry uncertainty

A decision to end fish farming in Macquarie Harbour would place around 40 jobs under a cloud at both Bridgewater and Westbury for Tasmania’s only fish box manufacturer.

Polyfoam is a family-owned business and makes 2.2 million fish boxes each year for the Tasmanian aquaculture industry.

Polyfoam CEO Simon Pickett said a decision to end fish farming in Macquarie Harbour will see him forced to reconsider his operations in Tasmania and look to import product.

He recently invested $1.7 million in machinery to expand his operation at Westbury.

Mr Pickett today met with Salmon Tasmania CEO Luke Martin as well as opposition leader Dean Winter and Labor senator Anne Urquhart to discuss his concerns about moves to close the industry on the West Coast and the ripple effect it will have throughout the rest of Tasmania.

They were joined by West Coast mayor Shane Pitt and salmon farm workers from the state’s three producers, Petuna, Huon Aquaculture and Tassal.

Environment minister Tanya Plibersek last year cast doubt over continued fin fish farming in the harbour due to increased concerns for the endangered and endemic Maugean skate, with a recent report recommending the status of the species being moved to critically endangered.

A delegation of salmon industry stakeholders recently travelled to Canberra to meet with politicians over the future of aquaculture in Macquarie Harbour.

Senator Urquhart said that jobs in the salmon industry are the lifeline and the lifeblood of many small communities.

“As a Labor senator I stand on the side of these workers because I think that both fishing and sustainability can go together,” she said.

Mr Winter, who is from Queenstown, added that salmon farming has been going on in Macquarie Harbour for decades, supporting families and the community.

“I acknowledge that this is complicated, and the science is complicated, but we have to remember what this is about, it’s about people who deserve to have the certainty of a job that is safe, secure and well paid.”

Mr Winter pointed out that many businesses, from the transport industry to the fish feed producers, could also be affected. 

 “We’ve only just opened this new facility at Westbury, which represents a $10 million outlay and when at full capacity we estimate 15 new jobs will be created alongside the 25 we already employ in Bridgewater,” Mr Pickett said.

 “However, if the aquaculture industry is closed on the West Coast, this will have a significant impact on our volumes, and we will have to reconsider our future.

”Polyfoam not only manufactures fish boxes in Tasmania but also vital organ and vaccine transport packaging to support the health sector as well as products for primary producers and the building sector.”