Tasmania Premier Peter Gutwein is urging anti-salmon campaigners to remove billboards popping up in the country that he says are deliberately spreading false information about salmon farming.
Four billboards with the massage "Eating Salmon? Killing Tasmania" were erected recently in Victoria, Australia, by the group Neighbours of Fish Farming (NOFF).
Other graphic illustrations and messages will roll out across regional and capital cities in other states over coming weeks and months, according to local media reports.
"I am truly disheartened to see Tasmanians deliberately spreading false information by placing anti-salmon billboards interstate, and I strongly urge them to be removed," Gutwein said in a press statement.
Tasmania’s salmon industry is worth nearly AUD1 billion ($740 million/€625 million) to the local economy, and has a history of innovation and commitment to continuous improvement, he said.
The region is home to salmon farming companies Tassal, Huon Aquaculture and Petuna.
NOFF, according to its Facebook page, is a community organization in southern Tasmania focused on protecting the environment and promoting sustainable fish farming.
It currently has over 80 members form the Huon and Channel region of Southern Tasmania.
The campaign, according to local media reports, will also target investors with the warning that investing in Tasmanian farmed salmon is unethical.
Gutwein acknowledged the workers and the companies that make up Tasmania's salmon sector and said his government will be taking further steps to "support the salmon industry on its continued journey of sustainability and innovation."
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