Salmon Enterprises of Tasmania

What Salmon Enterprises of Tasmania does

Salmon Enterprises of Tasmania Pty Ltd (SALTAS) is a Tasmania-based, privately held aquaculture genetics company that produces Atlantic salmon eyed eggs and smolts for Tasmania's commercial salmon farming industry. Founded as a registered Research Service Provider in 2004 (within an industry dating to 1984), SALTAS runs a Selective Breeding Program (SBP) that manages the Tasmanian salmon stock as a single genetic population through a three-year production cycle, generating over 200 salmon families annually from broodstock maintained at its freshwater hatchery in Wayatinah (Central Highlands) and grown to harvest-size smolts at a purpose-built marine farm south of Hobart.

The core of SALTAS's offering is genomic selection: DNA genotyping technology tracks the pedigree of each fish in the program, with nearly 40,000 individuals genotyped per year and hundreds of thousands of pedigree and performance measurements captured to inform which fish are bred in each generation. The program targets faster growth rates, resistance to amoebic gill disease (AGD — an industry-wide problem costing over $25M annually), reduced early maturation, and maintenance of carcass quality (flesh colour, fat content). The methodology is described as on par with or exceeding the practices of the world's largest salmon producers, and the program won the 2023 Tasmanian Seafood Awards Research, Development and Extension Award.

SALTAS operates a pure B2B model, supplying eyed eggs and smolts directly to Tasmania's two dominant salmon farming operators, Tassal and Huon Aquaculture, under direct enterprise relationships. Revenue is derived from the sale of biological inputs (eggs and smolts) produced through the SBP; no public pricing exists and no app, API, or software product is offered. The company maintains research alliances with CSIRO, the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), and the Centre for Aquatic Technologies, holds GlobalGAP and ASC accreditations, and works with the Tasmanian Environmental Protection Authority on environmental monitoring. SALTAS is a privately held Pty Ltd with no disclosed funding rounds, no disclosed revenue, and a footprint limited to Australia.

Name

Salmon Enterprises of Tasmania

Legal name

Salmon Enterprises of Tasmania Pty Ltd

Website

https://saltas.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

SALTAS is a Tasmania-based aquaculture genetics company that supplies Atlantic salmon eyed eggs and smolts to Tasmania's major salmon farmers (Tassal and Huon Aquaculture) via its DNA-genotyping-driven Selective Breeding Program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aquaculture Breeding and Hatchery

NAICS

Finfish Farming and Fish Hatcheries (112511), Aquaculture (1125), Aquaculture (11251)

SIC

Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYAFAEAKAD

Salmonid Hatcheries (Salmon, Trout, Char)

Agriculture & Food Production/Animal Production & Aquaculture/Hatcheries & Fingerling/Seed Stock Production

SECONDARYAFAEAKAA

Finfish Hatcheries (Freshwater & Marine)

Agriculture & Food Production/Animal Production & Aquaculture/Hatcheries & Fingerling/Seed Stock Production

SECONDARYAFAEAAAA

Finfish Farming (e.g., salmon, tilapia, catfish)

Agriculture & Food Production/Animal Production & Aquaculture/Aquaculture (Fish & Shellfish Farming)

Keywords

• Salmon breeding
• Aquaculture genetics
• Smolt production
• Salmon hatchery
• Fish egg supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamilton

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Egg and Smolt Sales: SALTAS produces and sells Atlantic salmon eggs and smolts to the Tasmanian salmon farming industry. The company is one of Tasmania's major producers of eggs and smolts for the Atlantic salmon farming sector.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Salmon Enterprises of Tasmania (SALTAS) produces Atlantic salmon eyed eggs and smolts for the Tasmanian salmon farming industry and operates a Selective Breeding Program that uses DNA genotyping and genomic selection to deliver genetically improved stock. The company maintains broodstock at a freshwater hatchery at Wayatinah and raises smolts in purpose-built sea cages at a marine farm south of Hobart, supplying operators including Tassal and Huon Aquaculture.

Product overview

Salmon Enterprises of Tasmania (SALTAS) operates as a producer of Atlantic salmon eggs and smolts for the Tasmanian Atlantic salmon farming industry, offering selective breeding services through its Selective Breeding Program (SBP). The company's core products—eyed eggs and smolts—are produced using genomic selection techniques, with the SBP serving as the genetic improvement service that enhances stock quality across multiple salmon families managed as a single genetic population.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Atlantic Salmon Eyed Eggs Atlantic salmon eyed eggs produced for the Tasmanian salmon farming industry, descended from foundation stocks imported from Canada's east coast in the 1960s and supplied to commercial operators for aquaculture grow-out.
• Atlantic Salmon Smolts Juvenile Atlantic salmon raised to the 1-year-old smolt stage at SALTAS's freshwater hatchery at Wayatinah in Tasmania's Central Highlands and transferred to marine farms south of Hobart for grow-out to harvest size.
• Selective Breeding Program (SBP) Genomic selection program designed to decrease production costs and improve salmon quality by enhancing growth rates, resistance to amoebic gill disease (AGD), and maintaining key carcass quality traits such as flesh colour and fat content for Tasmanian salmon farming operators.

Quantifiable outcome

• AGD costs the Tasmanian salmon industry over $25 million annually in lost productivity and treatment - SALTAS breeding program targets improved AGD resistance

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TassalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTassal is one of Tasmania's major salmon farming operators and a key industry partner of SALTAS. The partnership involves supply of genetically superior Atlantic salmon eggs and smolts from SALTAS to Tassal for commercial aquaculture production.
• Huon AquaculturecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHuon Aquaculture is a major Tasmanian salmon farming operator and industry partner of SALTAS. The partnership involves supply of Atlantic salmon eggs and smolts from SALTAS to Huon for their commercial salmon farming operations.
• CSIROcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) is Australia's national science agency and a research partner of SALTAS. CSIRO supports SALTAS's selective breeding program through scientific research collaboration.
• University of Tasmania (UTAS IMAS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUTAS IMAS (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies) is a research partner of SALTAS. The partnership provides academic research support for the selective breeding program and marine operations.
• CATminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAT (Centre for Aquatic Technologies) is listed as a research partner supporting SALTAS's selective breeding program with research expertise.
• Tasmanian Environmental Protection AuthoritycoreOthersSALTAS works closely with the Tasmanian Environmental Protection Authority to maintain thorough monitoring and management plans to understand and minimise any potential environmental impact from operations.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• AquaBounty Technologies: US-listed aquaculture genetics company focused on transgenic and conventional salmon genetics. Emerging player in advanced salmon breeding with partial technological overlap to SALTAS's genomic selection approach.

Broad incumbents

• Mowi: World's largest Atlantic salmon farmer, operating its own internal breeding and smolt programs. Broader incumbent reference point, illustrating the integrated model SALTAS's customers could move toward.
• Cermaq: Global salmon farming company (Norway, Chile, Canada) with proprietary broodstock and breeding capabilities. Comparable as a broad incumbent in Atlantic salmon production and genetics.
• SalMar: Major Norwegian Atlantic salmon farmer with in-house breeding and smolt operations. A broad incumbent benchmark for salmon farming scale and vertical integration strategy.

Direct peers

• Hendrix Genetics (Landcatch): Multi-species animal genetics company whose Landcatch unit supplies Atlantic salmon eggs and genetics to the Scottish and global salmon farming industry. Direct peer in selective salmon breeding services.
• Salmobreed: Norwegian Atlantic salmon breeding specialist producing genetically improved eggs and smolts. Closely comparable business model to SALTAS as a dedicated third-party salmon breeding and smolt supplier.
• Benchmark Genetics: UK-listed aquaculture genetics business operating salmon breeding programs (including Stofnfiskur in Iceland). Directly comparable as a salmonid breeding and genetics specialist serving commercial salmon farming.
• Stofnfiskur: Icelandic Atlantic salmon broodstock and breeding company (part of Benchmark). Provides genetically selected salmon eggs and ova, closely mirroring SALTAS's role for the Tasmanian industry.
• AquaGen: Norwegian Atlantic salmon breeding company producing eggs and smolts with a long-running genomic selection program. Most direct functional peer to SALTAS, operating the same core business model in the Norwegian salmon industry.

Others

• Akva Group: Global supplier of aquaculture equipment and technology, including salmon farming infrastructure and smolt RAS systems. Adjacent participant serving the same salmon farming customers as SALTAS but in equipment rather than genetics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Salmon Enterprises of Tasmania