Aquatas

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Owned	AUS
Rating

Atlantic Salmon producers

Company Ownership


Aquatas Pty Ltd	AUS	website	email
Tassal Group Ltd owns 100% of Aquatas Pty Ltd	AUS	website	email
Atlantic salmon producer and exporter Tassal operates 3 salmon hatcheries, 6 marine regions and 3 processing facilities, all in Tasmania, producing 16,000 tonnes of salmon per year.

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Aquatas Pty Ltd

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Tassal Group Ltd

Aquaculture Stewardship Council certification

This company has achieved Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification for all of their salmon farming operations. Tassal worked with WWF since 2012 to develop their responsible aquaculture production to meet the requirements of the ASC Salmon Standard. However Environment Tasmania has expressed a number of concerns about WWF's certification scheme. (www.et.org.au/salmon_faqs)
Source: ASC (2020)

Australian Packaging Covenant signatory

Signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, a voluntary agreement to encourage waste minimisation.
Source: Australian Packaging Covenant (2020)

'Say No' rating at GoodFish

Tassal operate salmon farms in Tasmania. GoodFish, Australia's Sustainable Seafood Guide recommends you 'say no' to farmed Atlantic salmon (Red rating). It's website states: produced in sea cages; carnivorous species that is dependent on wild caught fish that is manufactured into fish feed. While the amount of wild caught fish in feed has been reduced over recent years, the amount of wild-caught fish used in feed is currently more than the weight of salmon produced; localised impacts from salmon farming effluent are minor and short-lived; impacts of the industry on a broader ecological scale are less well understood; producers have reduced the use of antibiotics.
Source: GoodFish (2020)

15/100 S&P Global ESG Score

This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 15/100 in the Food Products category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 7 Feb 2021). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2021)

Salmon farming concerns

Fish farms maintained by this company in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania are causing dire environmental and fish health impacts. Environmental problems with salmon farming in the area include nutrient pollution and dead zones, use of 1.7kg of wild fish to produce 1kg of farmed salmon, overcrowded sea cages, minimal monitoring and marine debris. Leaked documents tabled by the Greens reveal repeated breaches of licence conditions by this company, disease outbreaks and pollution.
Source: ABC (2015)

Four Corners: Big Fish

ABC's Four Corners investigates the business of Tasmanian salmon production, including intensive farming, chemical colouring, salmon under stress and pristine waterways suffering. Also raised Tassal's payments to WWF-Australia and to an independent auditor to achieve ASC certification of Tassal's production process. (Oct 2016)
Source: Four Corners (2016)

Sustainability Award 2015

In 2015 this company won an Australian Business Award for Sustainability, which recognises organisations that execute initiatives that demonstrate leadership and commitment to sustainable business practices.
Source: Australian Business Awards (2015)

Best Aquaculture Practices certified

This companies has facilities which meet the Best Aquaculture Practices standards.
Source: BAP (2014)

Banksia Sustainability Award 2015

This company's CEO won a Banksia Sustainability Award in 2015 for demonstrating leadership through fully integrating sustainable principles and practices into operational activities, reducing the organisations' footprint and influencing and educating suppliers and customers.
Source: Banksia Foundation (2015)

Sustainability claims

This company has a number of sustainability claims on its website, including efforts in the areas of reducing the amount of wild fish and antibiotics used, environmental protection and community engagement.
Source: company website (2014)

Sustainable Aquaculture partnership with WWF

From 2012 to 2018, WWF worked with Tassal to offer expert advice on its sustainability strategy and guided the company on its commitments to standards of sustainable practice. Under the guidance of WWF, Tassal became the first salmon company in Australia to achieve Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification for a farm site, and the first company globally to achieve this standard across its operations in 2014.
Source: WWF Australia (2018)

Sustainable Agriculture Initiative member

This company is a member of the Australian chapter of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, the main food industry initiative supporting the development of sustainable agriculture worldwide. Created by Nestle, Unilever and Danone in 2002, the SAI Platform is a non-profit organization to facilitate sharing, at precompetitive level, of knowledge and initiatives to support the development and implementation of sustainable agriculture practices involving the different stakeholders of the food chain.
Source: SAI Platform Australia (2019)

How green and clean is Tasmanian salmon?

Transcript from the ABC's 7:30 Report (2009). Issues raised include use of antibiotics, damage to marine environment, use of 4kg of wild fish to produce 1kg of farmed salmon, being called the "battery hens of the sea". Please note however that reliance of wild caught fish has reduced in recent years.
Source: ABC (2009)

FAIRR Protein Producer Index

The Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index is a comprehensive assessment of how this sector is managing critical sustainability risks factors: GHGs; deforestation and biodiversity; water scarcity; water pollution; antibiotics; animal welfare; working conditions; food safety. This company was rated as medium risk.
Source: FAIRR (2019)

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Company Details

Type	Wholly-owned subsidiary
Aus Manufacturing	Yes

Contact Details

Address	Marina Drive, Margate, TAS, 7054, Australia
Phone	03 6267 6767
Email	corporate@aquatas.com
Website	www.aquatas.com

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