Tassal is Australia's largest producer of salmon and sources 1.6% of the world's supply. They operate in Tasmania's Channel region with 4 leases and employ 78 local staff. Tassal is implementing new technologies like remote feeding and a well boat to improve sustainability, fish welfare, and safety. They conduct extensive environmental monitoring of water quality, sediments, and reefs to ensure responsible farming. Tassal also invests over $1 million annually in the local community through grants, partnerships and initiatives.

1. Channel Community
Information Session
March 2018
Presented by Depha Miedecke, Senior Manager – Community Engagement & Sean Riley, Head of Environment

2. - Grows 32,000tns of salmon –
~ 1.6% of world supply & 50%
of Tasmanian supply
- 3 directly controlled Salmon
hatcheries and a majority
ownership of industry hatchery
Salmon Enterprises of Tasmania
Pty Ltd (SALTAS)
- 4 diverse marine farming zones
- 5 processing facilities
- 1 retail outlet in Salamanca &
‘Julie’ the Salmon Truck
- 3,375 points of retail presence
nationally
About Tassal
Our Network
ABOUT TASSAL: overview
About Tassal

3. Tassal Group – Wages by Region FY18 ($M)
Total Wages Paid - $101M
Our People
~1500 Direct Employees

4. - 2015: Aquaculture surpassed wild catch
- 2030: Aquaculture to provide over 60% of marine protein
Global Aquaculture
Trends

5. Harvest Tonnage l 30,883 HOG tonnes
Australia’s largest producer
of salmon products

6. Contribution to
Tasmanian Economy
• Aquaculture is a leading driver of the Tasmanian economy.
• The salmon industry contributes $900M+ per year to the Tasmania economy.
• Two thirds of the $606 million we spend per year goes directly to Tasmanian employees, suppliers
and contractors.
Tassal Group – Cash Expenditure FY18 - $M

7. • Aquaculture Stewardship Council.
• An independent not for profit
organisation.
• Founded in 2009 by WWF (World Wildlife
Fund) and IDH (the Sustainable Trade
Initiative) to manage global standards for
responsible aquaculture.
• 154 compliances to achieve certification
and maintained through a rigorous
annual reporting process.
• The ASC program promotes industry best practice
addresses the key environmental and social impacts of
salmon farming.
• The standards require an unprecedented level of
transparency on all farm performance and
environmental data.
• Principle 2 of the Salmon standard is intended to address
potential impacts on natural habitat, local biodiversity
and ecosystem function: including benthic impacts.
• Auditors review benthic survey reports for our leases
and regulator sign off as a means to assess compliance.
ASC – key points
What is ASC?
2019 Audit
scheduled for
second half of
the year

8. • Channel is one of the four farming
zones Tassal grow salmon in
throughout Tasmania.
• The Channel zone has four active
leases that we grow fish, these are
Tinderbox, Roberts, Sheppards and
Soldiers lease
The Channel Zone

9. • Channel Zone is an area where we historically have grown
our fish from smolt through to harvest size.
• The Zone is changing to a smolt/intermediate site which
will grow fish to an average of 1.2 kg, the fish will then be
relocated to our Southern Zone for on-growing to harvest.
• Hence the way we utilise leases in the Channel Zone
will change.
• This will provide improved biosecurity with increased
separation of year classes.
• The fish which went to sea in 2018 (18yc) are currently
3kg and are performing well.
• They are scheduled to be harvested between September
and December this year.
• Simmonds lease will house fish from Robert’s lease from
April to December. This is to enable additional fallowing of
other leases
The Farm

10. • The 19YC smolt going to sea in April are being inputted to Tinderbox Roberts and Soldiers lease.
• 19YC will be an average weight of 190g and will be all to sea by August.
• Smolt are transported from our Rookwood hatchery in Ranelagh and SALTAS in Wayatinah. These come by truck
onto a vessel and delivered directly into the pens on the lease.
• The smolt trucks will load onto the vessel at both our Electrona land base site and at Kettering.
• The 19YC fish will be moved to Southern Zone leases later in the year and early 2020.
• Simmonds lease will be operational from April to December 2019 to on grow 18YC fish and allow fallowing of
other leases.
• The Soldiers feed barge ‘the Mawson’ has been undergoing noise mitigation work, which are now complete.
Sound barriers to deflect the noise away from the coastal areas.
• The new feed barge ‘Optimus’ on the Sheppards lease has had extensive noise mitigation implemented.
• Compressors have had additional noise mitigation works completed.
The Farm (cont.)

11. • Each lease houses moored 120m
pens and a feed barge. Delivery of
feed occurs from the barge to each
pen of fish.
• The feed is produced by Skretting in
Cambridge, Tasmania and is
delivered to the barges by boat
from a central warehouse located
in Margate.
• Majority of our feed barges have
been built by Hayward’s in Margate.
• We are currently in the process of
centralising our feeding processes.
Previously our fish were fed from a
control point on the feed barge.
• Now we are moving to feeding all of
our leases from a feed centre in
town.
The Farm (cont.)

12. • Tassal has implemented a remote feeding strategy with 95% of the roll out across all pens now complete.
• The implementation commenced at the end of February 2018 and initial analysis is showing improved
growth against previous feeding program, a reduced feed conversion ratio and improved environmental
and fish health and well being performance.
• Remote feeding will play a pivotal role for Tassal with it contributing to:
• Lower fish growing costs as feed conversion ratio will improve;
• Improving environmental outcomes as we are able to monitor fish feeding closely to ensure optimal
feeding performance from the fish … and in turn, less feed wasted and therefore, improving seabed
conditions;
• Improving people safety outcomes as feeding fish is a 365 day a year activity – in all weather
conditions – with some weather conditions less than ideal for people being at sea to feed; and
• Improving fish health and welfare as we are able to visually see the fish from many angles and
monitor continuously fish behaviour, algae, jellyfish and other environmental conditions ‘real time’
and ‘up close.’
Remote Feed Centre

14. • Tassal will be taking possession of a Well Boat under a 10 year lease for delivery between September and December 2019
(FY20). The Well Boat will have a 3,500m3 water capacity – enough to completely bathe one of Tassal’s largest pens around
3X quicker than current methods.
• The Well Boat provides benefits through improvements in survival, enabling further offshore / higher energy farming and
facilitating further lease optimisation from existing leases:
• Enabling bathing in higher energy /rougher sites;
• Reduction in fresh water requirements;
• Increased lease optimisation through allowing quicker and more efficient bathing process; and
• Increased lease optimisation through allowing transport of larger smolt to grow-out sites.
• The following operational improvements should also result in:
• A material improvement in the safety risk of fish bathing on farms by a reduction in high risk tasks, manual handling,
diving and towing;
• Improved biosecurity and fish health and welfare; and
• Enabling grading fish during a bath, to better manage growth and sales optimisation.
Well Boat

16. • The fish are harvested on the lease with a
purpose-built harvest vessel called the
Emmanuel.
• This vessel was built by haywards in
Margate.
• Significant investment has gone into this
vessel to ensure fish welfare, quality, WHS
and efficiency.
• Emmanuel’s noise mitigation was designed
by acoustic specialists and to keep noise
levels to a minimum when it is operating.
• 79% of our 17YC fish went to the domestic
market. Export on the 18YC will be minimal
due to domestic demand.
Harvest

17. • 78 people work full time in the
Channel Zone.
• Majority of our staff live in the
Channel area.
• Our staff cover 24/7, 365 days
operation coverage.
• Our central base for operations
is at Electrona.
• We have many contractors
that provide services that live
in the local area.
• Tourism operators Pennicott’s
and Tasmanian Wild Seafood’s,
stop by our leases as part of
their tours.
Our Staff

18. Marine Debris KPI’s
1. Under 18% of marine debris collected from shoreline in our
areas of operation attributable to Tassal by October 2020.
2. Under 10% of marine debris collected from shoreline in our
areas of operation attributable to Tassal by October 2021.
3. Reduce loss of equipment which poses a risk to safe
navigation solution in place on all large items.
Marine Debris
Total collected 2018: 196 m3
Total person hours: 2,672 hrs
Total distance covered: 560km

19. Marine Debris
Total collected 2018: 75.2 m3
Total person hours: 827
Total distance covered: 139 km
Total waste (Tassal) 22.68%
Channel Zone Marine Debris data 2018

20. Community Clean Ups
The D’Entrecasteaux and Huon Collaboration will be
holding two community clean-up days in the Huon and
Bruny Island regions:
Charlotte’s Cove clean up: May 11th 2019
Alonnah clean-up: May 25th 2019
For more information, visit
www.nrmsouth.org.au/join-our-marine-debris-clean-ups/
To register for the clean up, email
afowles@nrmsouth.org.au

21. Our Communities
• Tassal directly invests into all its communities where it operates.
• In 2018 we invested over 1 million dollars into programs, partnerships and provisions, which align to our
Community Foundation pillars (health & well-being; education; environmental stewardship and social
inclusion).

23. Community Grants
• Applications for Better Together:
Community Grants will open in April
2019.
• Local services, not-for-profit and
charitable organisations as well as
Australian citizens or permanent
residents are eligible to apply for a
Better Together: Community Grant.
• Once open, community members can
apply, via www.tassalgroup.com.au or
grab a form from our Tassal staff.

25. Environmental effects of
salmon farming

26. Broadscale
Monitoring Program
• 10 Years of sampling completed.
• It is a regulatory requirement that broadscale
monitoring requirements are met by all licence
holders.
• 15 Monitoring and sampling stations
throughout the D’Entrecasteaux Channel.
• Water quality monitored monthly/bi-monthly
(nutrients, physical parameters and
microalgae).
• Sediments monitored annually - sediment
chemistry (redox, sulphides) and biology
(benthic infauna).
• 150+ consecutive sampling events.

27. Broadscale Monitoring Sites

28. Broadscale
Monitoring Program
From the EPA website:
D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Huon and Port Esperance
The area covered by the D’Entrecasteaux Channel Marine Farming
Development Plan February 2002 covers the stretch of water
between Bruny Island and the mainland of Tasmania, running north
south in orientation for approximately 50 km. To the north the
Channel adjoins the Derwent Estuary and to the south the Southern
Ocean.
The area covered by the Huon River and Port Esperance Marine
Farming Development Plan February 2002 consists of all that area
bounded by the high water mark between: to the north, a line drawn
from Shipwrights Point due east to the eastern coastline of the Huon
River; to the south-east, a line drawn from Ninepin Point to Scott
Point.
There are 28 listed Marine Farming Leases within these two
development plan areas.
Marine Farming Development Plans covering these two areas can be
found at:
http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/sea-fishing-aquaculture/marine-farming-
aquaculture/marine-farming-development-plans/current-marine-
farming-development-plans#D'EntrecasteauxChannel%E2%80%8B
Broadscale Environmental Monitoring Program (BEMP)
The Broadscale Environmental MonitoringProgram (BEMP) provides a
comprehensive assessment of ecological condition in the
D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Huon Estuary.
The program commenced in March 2009, and is currently undertaken
by all marine finfish farm licence holders in the the D’Entrecasteaux
Channel and Huon/ Port Esperance Marine Farm Development Plan
areas.

29. Environmental Reporting
Nutrients

30. Environmental Reporting
Temperature

31. Environmental Reporting – Benthic Infauna

32. Additional Monitoring
& Data collection
• Ecological reef assessments (26
sites in South East Tasmania)
commenced in July 2015
• Intertidal Surveys – 2002/2003
and 2015/2016.
• Real-Time Water Column
Profiler off the Lippies lease -
DO, current flow, chlorophyll a,
temperature.

33. Maree – Marine Ecological Emulator

34. Reef Monitoring

35. Questions?

36. Intertidal Survey – Control Site