The Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar in Australia

The multimillion dollar Tasmanian Atlantic Salmon aquaculture industry grew from a shaky beginning with just 36 ripe females in the 1970's. The early unsuccessful attempts to introduce Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) to Australia which started in 1841 are summarised. By 1960 no known populations of Atlantic Salmon existed in Australia so Dr D.D. Francois arranged the import of Atlantic Salmon ova in 1963, 1964 and 1965. By 1972 when I took over management of Atlantic Salmon in N. S.W., the remaining stocks had become very low, only 36 ripe females remaining, and the importation of new stocks were prohibited. By 1979 1,000,000 ova were laid down for that year although mortalities were high. In the 1980's several shipments of these Atlantic Salmon ova were supplied to Tasmania, and from these, the multimillion dollar Tasmanian Salmon aquaculture industry has developed. Lake Jindabyne is still stocked annually with Atlantic Salmon and reasonable angler returns result, but no breeding in the wild has been reported.