Salmon Tasmania starts the new year by taking on misinformation, head on

In the island state of Tasmania there has been a long history of confronting and highly funded activism by well-established organisations.

In the 1980s there were protests against the establishment of their hydroelectric schemes (ironically the state now enjoys 100% renewable energy status). In the 1990s to 2000s, it was the forestry wars, and in more recent times strong campaigning against other Tasmanian initiatives such as a cable car in Hobart and the move of the local university into the centre of town.

The new target is now salmon farming.

A part of Tasmanian culture seems to be built around the business of protest and the art of opposition, and many political empires have been built from these protest organisations who enjoy significant tax-free donation revenue and have many full-time staff.

They know that most Tasmanians are not impressed or not interested in this activity, they are however used to it. But now the peak body, Salmon Tasmania, is hitting back with an honest and unscripted series of videos where salmon farm workers are asked the common misinformation statements in a simple, yet frank series of interviews.

Salmon Tasmania CEO Sue Grau says. 'Activists have had a free run up until now. This clear air has allowed them to mislead the community with what is at times absurd misinformation. The time has come to confront the misinformation head on and have an honest and open conversation with the people of Tasmania.'

Communications Director Stuart Harris says, 'We are really excited about taking a different approach to dealing with this issue. False stories and incorrect information have been seeded in the community over a long period of time, so we needed a fun and light-hearted way to engage in what is a very serious conversation.

We hope that the way we are delivering it makes it something that the community will listen to and that our people will be proud of.'

The campaign will feature throughout Salmon Tasmania's social media and early in the new year will evolve into a full campaign utilising both social and traditional media.

Episode 1 of 'Tassie, we need to talk salmon!' can be viewed via the below links.

• https://www.facebook.com/SalmonTasmania
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6pALPOrKPY&t=6s&ab_channel=SalmonTasmania
• https://salmontasmania.au/savour/

For more information about Salmon Tasmania visit the website, HERE.

The Aquaculturists

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