Scaling seaweed production using Salmon farms in South East Tasmania?

About the speaker: 

Dr Shea Cameron has 10 years experience working in marine operations at Huon Aquaculture, mainly in the subsea services department. Before relocating to Tasmania, Dr Cameron was researching invertebrate and macroalgal assemblages on shipwrecks in South Australia at Flinders University. In 2022, he was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to investigate Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture in Europe and the United States. After completing this fellowship, Dr Cameron continues to advocate for Seaweed farming in the Tasmanian finfish aquaculture space.

Organisation:

Huon Aquaculture is a subsidary of JBS Australia and is one of the largest Aquaculture company’s in Australia. It has over 1000 employees and is unusally vertically integrated compared to other finfishfarms, providing egg to plate cover. Huon has always been forward thinking and able to develop their own farming methods and equipment living up to its new mantra, „Oceans Ahead. Always.“

Presentation:

Seaweed farming needs companies to scale quickly to help develop products and markets. Small farmers have taken on most of the risk so far and are only slowly progressing. Salmon farms are the largest and most technologically advanced aquaculture companies’ in Australia, and unlike their overseas counterparts- vertically integrated. Barriers that present themselves to smaller startups are not present and there is the ability to take on more risk as a larger company with diversified species stocks. Salmon, might just hold the key or perhaps “kick the door down” for those that want to come after….