A keystone industry in the Australian state of Tasmania has been accused of violating the Animal Welfare Act after 4 million salmon died prematurely last year.

What's happening?

A series of mortality events shook Tasmanian fish farms last year. From February to early May, the state's Environmental Protection Authority recorded "a large and unprecedented salmon mortality event" due to an endemic bacterium. Then, around 500,000 fish died in November and December when ocean temperatures warmed, according to The Guardian. 

With millions of people consuming salmon every year, the fish may frequently be an afterthought until they are in front of us on our plates. However, as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals noted, scientific evidence shows that salmon feel pain. In high temperatures, salmon can suffer liver and kidney damage and become susceptible to disease. 

Their premature deaths have raised ethical questions about whether fish farms are doing enough to protect them from unreasonable suffering, as Tasmania's Animal Welfare Act requires in its duty-of-care section on management of animals.   

"There is currently a public debate interstate about possible penalties for leaving dogs in cars on hot days, and Premier [Jeremy] Rockliff has committed to phasing out greyhound racing because of animal welfare concerns," Stewart Frusher, a retired professor from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, told The Guardian. 

"But when it comes to mass salmon deaths, there's just silence."

Why are warming ocean temperatures important?

While a growing number of salmon fisheries and unsustainable farming practices appear to be contributing to an uptick in mass mortality events, pollution from fuels like gas and coal, deforestation, and other human activities are also raising water temperatures globally and causing environmental contamination, altering habitats, and making survival difficult. 

As summer in Tasmania begins in December, the fish's premature deaths so early in the season are a worrying sign for their welfare, the state's economy, and food security. Tasmania's salmon industry is valued at over $1 billion and accounts for more than 90% of the country's Atlantic salmon production, per its Department of Natural Resources and Environment. 

"We are essentially at the stage where the waters in southeastern Tasmania aren't fit for purpose for salmon," Frusher told The Guardian. 

Warmer water temperatures are raising alarm bells in other regions as well. After billions of snow crabs disappeared in the Bering Sea, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game canceled its harvest in back-to-back years. The population has somewhat rebounded — and harvests have resumed — but scientists believe unusually warm waters caused a starvation event.

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What's being done about salmon deaths in Tasmania?

In Norway, regulators impose hefty fines on producers when violations of fish welfare standards lead to mass die-offs, and Jess Coughlan, senior campaigner at Environment Tasmania, believes Tasmania should enact similar policies.

"Penalties must apply, as they do in Norway, as a disincentive to allowing current mortality rates to become the new normal, and bring animal welfare back into focus for an industry that is clearly beyond control," Coughlan said, per The Guardian. 

Salmon Tasmania, which represents three major salmon producers in the state, did not respond to The Guardian's request for comment on the possibility of facing fines for mass die-offs.

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