INFORMD2 Risk-based tools supporting consultation, planning and adaptive management for aquaculture and other multiple-uses of the coastal waters of southern Tasmania

Salmon aquaculture is a major component of the Tasmanian economy (currently $700 millionwith plans to expand to $1 billion by 2030). However, the industry operates along a populatedcoastline in waterways shared with a range of other industrial and recreation uses. Bothgovernment and industry recognise that maintaining high environmental standards is not onlycritical to the husbandry of fish stocks, but also to maintaining a social license to operate inTasmania. This is underlined by the 2015 Senate Inquiry into the salmon industry and recentchanges to the regulatory framework that reflect the current size and maturity of the industry. Scientific understanding of the marine system clearly has a central role in maintainingcommunity confidence in the environmental sustainability of the industry. However, thisunderstanding must be both relevant to stakeholder values and accessible in a form thateffectively supports planning and management. INFORMD2 directly addressed these needsby identifying stakeholder values and developing technologies that provide timely andrelevant information to government industry and the community. This was a majorcollaborative study between scientists at the CSIRO and the University of Tasmania withinvolvement of the Tasmanian Government through the Department of Primary Industries,Parks, Water and Environment, and the Tasmanian aquaculture industry through theTasmanian Salmon Growers Association, Huon Aquaculture, Tassal, and Oysters Tasmania.