The two new ships were originally due to sail into the state this year with expanded passenger and freight capacity.

The TT-Line board had recommended signing a contract for the vessel replacements with Finnish shipbuilder RMC when the government's contract with another shipbuilder FSG fell through.

IN OTHER NEWS:

The government did not accept this recommendation and instead established a taskforce to see if and how the job could be done domestically.

The vessels are now due to arrive in 2028, if not beforehand.

Under questioning from Labor's David O'Byrne on Friday, Fruit Growers Tasmania chief executive Peter Cornish said the body was not consulted on the vessel replacement plan by the taskforce.

He said many growers preferred to use TT-Line because of its reliability, but all three operators on the Bass Strait were used.

Mr Cornish said whether issues for growers would emerge as a result of a delay in the replacement vessels would come down to supply and demand.

"The fact that Searoad are about to introduce a larger vessel certainly helps," he said.

"We haven't had any capacity issues over the last year, certainly the year before there were some.

"But if trade grows and capacity is stretched, that could well become an issue."

Mr Cornish said workforce barriers associated with COVID-19 had exposed the industry's reliance on the state's seasonal worker program and working holidaymakers.

"We've had an increase in the participation by locals, but it has been very challenging and it hasn't been an easy experience for growers in terms of engaging locals this year," he said.

Mr Cornish said there will be less working holidaymakers in the country next season.

"We will need to work more on how we engage more locals, but I think we will have to have a more active seasonal worker program and get people in from the Pacific Islands and Timor-Leste," he said.

"It's a growing industry and this issue on workers is only going to get more, not less, because there's continued investment."