Economic value of key fisheries and aquaculture sectors drop, report says

The Tasmanian Fisheries and Aquaculture Industry: Economic Contributions assessed the state's six key sectors, including salmon, aquaculture, rock lobster and scalefish fisheries.

Economist and project leader Steven Rust said overall, they found the economic value of fisheries and aquaculture sectors dropped from $878 million in 2018-19 to $802 million in 2020-21.

"Household income, including money earned by fishers directly and by others who benefit from local seafood sectors, also reduced from $443 million to $412 million between these years," Dr Rust said.

"This reduction in economic value and household income was most likely the result of export market access issues that arose at around the same time as the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted many Australian commodities."

Despite the reductions, the total direct and indirect employment across all fisheries and aquaculture sectors increased marginally, from 6,558 people to 6,600 in two years.

Dr Rust said these findings were important for understanding local economic returns for the state's seafood industries.

"Both through seafood sales into Tasmanian markets, and valuable national and international export markets," Dr Rust said.

"Monitoring these statistics and how they change over time helps identify challenges and opportunities for growth.

"This is an important step that allows state government marine resource managers to develop strategies that will maximise the value of these industries to Tasmania."

The economic value of Pacific Oyster aquaculture increased from $35 million to $42 million during 2018-19, while abalone aquaculture grew in value from $7 million to $11 million.

Dr Rust said the economic value of both salmon aquaculture and the rock lobster fishery reduced during the two-year period.

"The value of salmon aquaculture dropped from $650 million to $639 million due to the effects of higher logistical costs and supply chain issues over 2020-21," Dr Rust said.

"But despite these factors, the contribution of primary production remained resilient, while direct and indirect employment increased from 5,003 people to 5,188."