Tassal is trying to selectively breed its salmon to cope with warmer water in a race against expected rising temperatures.
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"In a farming context, selective breeding over a 25-year timeframe is expected to deliver and could see an improvement of at least 2.1 degrees in the maximum thermal limit of Tasmanian salmon," the Hobart-headquartered salmon, prawn and seafood company told investors on Thursday.
"This compares to predictions of between 1 and 7 degrees Celsius increase in global temperatures over the next 100 years in various scientific papers.
"As we compare conservative estimates of improvement due to selection with the worst case scenario from the published predictions, we still see that it is possible to outpace the changes in average temperature due to climate change."
Tassal said it was continuing to improve fish husbandry and taking part in collaborative research to improve fish stocks' ability to deal with climate change.
It said it aimed to spend $60 million over three years on initiatives and research and development to reduce the effects of climate change on its operations.
The company aims to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
Tassal is also looking into seaweed farming, eyeing potential "blue carbon credits" and commercialisation opportunities in areas including fertiliser and soil conditioning, biochar, animal feed supplements and food and nutrition supplements for humans.
"Seaweed offers a nature-based solution for water quality restoration while also unlocking market opportunities in terms of commodity or future blue carbon credits," it said.
It last year converted 13 hectares of a settlement pond area to seaweed production at its Proserpine Prawn Farm in Queensland.
Tassal said it had harvested 305 tonnes of seaweed by December 31 and was working with the University of Sunshine Coast Seaweed Research Group.
"The Proserpine Prawn Farm is Tassal's largest and the principal site of future expansion," the company said.
"This is a nature-based solution to both reduce nutrient loads discharged from the farm and further protect the local environment."
Sean Ford
The Advocate Newspaper, Tasmania. Business, economics, politics, crime.
The Advocate Newspaper, Tasmania. Business, economics, politics, crime.
