Atlantic salmon aquaculture in Tasmania continues to expand with production exceeding 25000 tonne for 2007-08 representing a 10000 tonne increase over the last five years. Directly employing over 1200 people (26), the Tasmanian industry is well placed for further growth due to its proximity to Asian markets. Tasmania’s climate provides ideal temperatures for Atlantic salmon production resulting in fast growth, substantially reducing the time to harvest (compared to European producers). The Tasmanian salmon industry plans to double production in the next five years, an ambition that may be problematic considering that current sites are nearly fully developed. New farming zones may need to be established in less sheltered waters (26), further from land and away from freshwater sources. Future reliability on FW sources in conjunction with the current high costs for treating AGD demonstrates a clear need for providing cost effective, efficacious alternatives that reduce the reliance upon freshwater resources. Progressing to alternative treatment strategies for AGD has proven elusive and (according to the recent AGD research review) has been attributed to fundamental knowledge deficiencies of host-pathogen interactions and epidemiology.

This proposal aligns specifically with TSGA R&D priorities within the fish health tactical development area those being “AGD-Epidemiology/Patho-biology” and “AGD-Comparing the response/mechanisms of salmon to native fish”. The proposed research also aligns with the TSGA’s “areas of interest” for 2011 specifically “AGD-comparing response between salmon and trout”.