Salmon farmer Tassal, again defending its environmental record, says a Senate inquiry into Tasmania's aquaculture industry is unnecessary.
Tassal chief executive Mark Ryan has rejected media reports raising concerns over the industry's environmental impact, calling the reports inaccurate and based upon outdated information.
Mr Ryan says there is good science underpinning all of the company's operations, and that Tassal is the only aquaculture company in Australia to have a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
And Tassal, which employs 950 people, didn't provide jobs at the expense of the environment, he said.
"Everyone at Tassal believes that we are custodians of the environment that we operate in, and we take this role extremely seriously," Mr Ryan said in an interview transcript released to the Australia Securities Exchange on Monday.
Mr Ryan said it's unclear what the Senate inquiry's terms of reference will be given that Tasmania's marine leases are a state responsibility.
And, he said, both the state's Liberal government and Labor opposition both had publicly stated they didn't think a Senate inquiry was necessary.
"This is not because of jurisdictional issues. It is because the Tasmanian aquaculture industry is already very well regulated," Mr Ryan said.
"We agree with the state Liberal and Labor parties that a Federal inquiry is not necessary."
Nonetheless, the inquiry would give Tassal an opportunity to explain its sustainability practices, he said.
Shares in Tassal were steady at $3.35 at 1046 AEDT.
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