The regulations rest on several concepts that deserve careful unpacking. The first is the concept of a “salmonid”. The regulations define this term exhaustively to mean Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), Brown trout (Salmo trutta), and any hybrid of those species. This definition covers the fish in part or whole, alive or dead. It therefore extends to carcasses, fillets, offal, gametes, and other biological material, which matters for biosecurity controls. The second core concept is “primary production of fish”, defined broadly to cover growing, cultivating, picking, harvesting, collecting, catching, transporting, delivering, holding live fish, and fish processing. The regulations then apply zone measures to persons engaging in primary production of salmonids, meaning the definition captures the entire supply chain from hatchery to processing facility, including transport. Importantly, regulation 3(2) clarifies that a reference to primary production of any specified class of fish means primary production involving that class or species. So the zone measures apply only to those in the salmonid supply chain, not to all fish farmers. Third, the “adjacent area” for Tasmania is incorporated from Commonwealth legislation, extending the reach of the marine zones beyond state waters (generally 3 nautical miles) into the offshore area under Commonwealth jurisdiction. This is significant because it gives the regulations extra-territorial application within that adjacent area, subject to the limits of the Biosecurity Act 2019. Fourth, the concept of “salmonid biosecurity zone” itself: under the Biosecurity Act 2019, Part 3 Division 2, zones can be established for prescribed biosecurity matter and risks. These regulations prescribe all species of salmonids and any biosecurity risk or impact in relation to their primary production in Tasmania. The zones are therefore not disease-specific; they capture any biosecurity risk associated with salmonid farming, from exotic viruses to introduced pests or pathogens. Fifth, the zone measures are not set out in the regulations themselves but are incorporated by reference from the Tasmanian Salmonid Industry Biosecurity Program, which is described as an “approved biosecurity program or government biosecurity program” that may be amended or substituted from time to time under Part 9 of the Act. This means that the substantive obligations can change without any amendment to the regulations or further gazettal, raising issues of legal certainty and accessibility for regulated entities. Finally, the authorisation under regulation 16 is a critical concept: it carves out anti-competitive conduct from the reach of Part IV of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) for dealings, communications, or submissions done for the purpose of implementing a Salmonid Biosecurity Program under the Act. This effectively permits discussions that would otherwise risk price-fixing, market-sharing, or boycotts, provided they are directed at biosecurity program implementation.

The regulations directly affect any person who engages in, or proposes to engage in, the primary production of salmonids in Tasmania, and any person who owns or operates premises where that activity occurs within a defined zone. The primary targets are commercial salmonid farmers operating marine leases in the six marine zones. This includes the major Tasmanian salmon producers , companies such as Tassal, Huon Aquaculture, and Petuna , as well as smaller operators, contract growers, and any new entrants. The marine zones track existing marine farming development plans, so any lessee within those plan areas is automatically within a biosecurity zone. The Adjacent Area Marine Salmonid Biosecurity Zone captures any salmonid farming activity in Commonwealth waters outside the territorial sea, which may affect operations in deeper offshore sites or future expansion areas. The Freshwater Salmonid Biosecurity Zone applies to all premises operating under a fish farm licence under the Inland Fisheries Act 1995; this covers hatcheries, freshwater grow-out facilities, and any land-based salmonid production. It is defined functionally, so a new licence triggers inclusion automatically without any amendment to the regulations. The Salmonid Processing Biosecurity Zone covers all premises where salmonid processing occurs under a fish processing licence or an accreditation under the Primary Produce Safety Act 2011. This includes processing plants, value-adding facilities, and possibly slaughterhouses or primary processing facilities. Transporters are also affected: the definition of primary production includes transportation or delivery of fish, meaning that any person moving live or dead salmonids within or between zones must comply with the zone measures. The indirect burden falls on downstream supply chains, including feed suppliers, equipment providers, and service contractors who may need to align their operations with biosecurity protocols to avoid introducing contamination. The regulations also affect the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment as the administering body responsible for overseeing compliance, conducting audits, and potentially amending the biosecurity program. The Minister is directly affected by regulation 16, which authorises discussions with finfish marine farmers that would otherwise risk competition law breaches. Finally, because the zone measures are incorporated from an external document (the Biosecurity Program) that can be amended without further regulation, any person affected bears the ongoing cost of monitoring changes to that Program.

The primary duty imposed by these regulations is to comply with the biosecurity zone measures adopted for each type of zone. For marine zones, the measures are the standards in Schedule 1 of the Tasmanian Salmonid Industry Biosecurity Program. For the freshwater zone, Schedule 2 applies; for the processing zone, Schedule 3 applies. The duty falls on “all persons who engage in, or are proposing to engage in, the primary production of salmonids”. This language is broad: it covers not only the licence holder but also employees, contractors, and possibly visitors who handle fish or fish products. It also covers persons “proposing to engage” in primary production, which might capture those in the planning or pre-licensing stage who are starting operations. The duty is to follow the standards “as applicable”, meaning that a person must determine which standards apply to their particular activity and premises, and then comply with them. The regulations themselves do not specify the content of those standards; that is left to the Biosecurity Program. This creates a duty to access and understand that document, which is not reproduced in the regulations. It is conceivable that the Program contains specific requirements for hygiene, pest control, disease surveillance, record-keeping, movement controls, disinfection, and reporting. Without seeing the Program, the precise nature of the duties remains opaque. The regulations also confer a right , or more accurately, a statutory immunity , under regulation 16. Persons participating in discussions with the Minister about implementing the biosecurity program are authorised to engage in dealings, communications, and exchanges of submissions that would otherwise be prohibited under Part IV of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (covering cartels, anti-competitive agreements, and misuse of market power). This is a significant carve-out because it allows competing finfish marine farmers to coordinate and agree on measures necessary for biosecurity without exposing themselves to civil or criminal penalties under competition law. The authorisation is limited to acts done for the purposes of implementing a Salmonid Biosecurity Program under the Act. It does not authorise all forms of anti-competitive conduct, only those directly related to program implementation. There is an implicit duty to stay within the scope of that authorisation. The regulations also impose an obligation on the Department to administer and enforce the zones and to maintain the Biosecurity Program as a live document. However, the regulations do not expressly provide any right of review, appeal, or compensation for those affected by the zones or the measures. Affected persons have the usual rights under administrative law but nothing specific in these regulations.

The regulations themselves do not create penalty provisions. Penalties for non-compliance with biosecurity zone measures flow from the Biosecurity Act 2019, the parent Act. Under section 134 of that Act, a person who contravenes a biosecurity zone measure commits an offence. The maximum penalties under the Act can be significant: for an individual, a fine of up to 200 penalty units (currently $44,000 under Tasmanian penalty unit rates, though the Act may specify different amounts) and for a body corporate, up to 1000 penalty units ($220,000). In addition, the Act provides for enforcement tools such as biosecurity directions, destruction orders, quarantine notices, stop-work orders, and recovery of costs. If a person fails to comply with a zone measure, an authorised officer may issue a direction requiring the person to take specified action (e.g., to dispose of fish, disinfect equipment, cease operations). Failure to comply with a direction is a separate offence. The Act also allows for civil penalties and injunctions. Because the regulations adopt standards from the Biosecurity Program, a breach of those standards that falls within the duty “to follow the standards” would be a breach of the regulations and therefore an offence under the Act. However, enforcement depends on whether the standards are sufficiently precise to be enforceable. If a standard uses aspirational language (e.g., “should” rather than “must”), there may be ambiguity. The Act vests enforcement powers in biosecurity officers appointed under the Act. The Department may also conduct audits of licence holders to verify compliance. There is also a possibility of enforcement via licensing conditions: the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 or Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 might incorporate compliance with biosecurity measures into licence conditions, allowing suspension or revocation of licences for non-compliance. The Competition and Consumer Act authorisation in regulation 16 does not itself carry penalties, but if persons step outside the scope of the authorisation, the usual competition penalties apply: for corporations, fines of up to $10 million or three times the benefit gained, plus individual criminal sanctions for cartel offences. The regulations thus create an interesting enforcement dynamic: the Department may be simultaneously facilitating cooperation on biosecurity while also ensuring that cooperation does not extend to price fixing or market sharing. The Biosecurity Act 2019 also contains provisions for cost recovery, meaning that the Department could recover the cost of responding to a biosecurity incident from the person responsible if they were in breach of a measure. Overall, the penalty regime is back-ended into the Act, but the regulations trigger its applicability in these specific zones.

These regulations operate as subordinate legislation under the Biosecurity Act 2019 (Tas) and are therefore integral to that Act’s biosecurity zone framework. They are not standalone; they fill in details that the Act leaves to regulations: which biosecurity matter, which zones, and which measures. The Act sets out the general powers, offences, and enforcement, while these regulations specify the where and what. Outside the parent Act, the regulations interact with several Tasmanian and Commonwealth statutes. First, they cross-reference the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 for the definition of “fish farm licence”, meaning that any operation holding such a licence is automatically within the Freshwater Salmonid Biosecurity Zone. Changes to the Inland Fisheries Act affecting licence categories could change the scope of the zone without amendment to these regulations, because the zone is defined by reference to the licence concept. Second, the regulations rely on the Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 for the definition of “fish processing licence” and on the Primary Produce Safety Act 2011 for accreditation. The processing zone therefore depends on the licensing regime under those Acts. Third, the marine zones are defined by reference to marine farming development plans made under the Marine Farming Planning Act 1995. Those plans can be amended or substituted from time to time, and the regulations automatically track those changes. This means the geographic boundaries of the marine zones can shift without any further regulatory action, giving the Department flexibility but creating uncertainty for affected holders of marine leases. Fourth, regulation 16 explicitly engages the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) by authorising conduct that would otherwise be prohibited under Part IV. This is a rare instance of a State regulation carving out Commonwealth competition law. The authorisation is limited to dealings for implementing a Salmonid Biosecurity Program. It does not authorise other anti-competitive conduct, and the scope will depend on what is considered necessary for implementation. This interaction may require coordination with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) if there is any dispute about the limits of the authorisation. Fifth, the definition of “adjacent area” for Tasmania picks up the Crimes at Sea Act 1999 (Cth), which in turn defines the adjacent area by reference to the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 (Cth). This means that the Adjacent Area Marine Salmonid Biosecurity Zone extends into Commonwealth waters, potentially creating dual Commonwealth-state jurisdiction. The Biosecurity Act 2019 may have extraterritorial application, but the Commonwealth Biosecurity Act 2015 also applies in those waters. Overlaps and inconsistencies between the two biosecurity regimes are possible, especially if both authorities impose different measures. Finally, the regulations interact with the Tasmanian Salmonid Industry Biosecurity Program itself, which is an approved biosecurity program under Part 9 of the Biosecurity Act 2019. The Program can be amended by the Minister without any parliamentary scrutiny of the regulations, so the interaction is dynamic and one-directional: the regulations adopt the Program’s schedules as measures, and the Program can change the schedules, thereby changing legal obligations without amending the regulations.

The regulations were made on 21 December 2022 and notified in the Gazette on the same day. They took effect on that day. The text provided is current as at 12 April 2026, based on the URL date, but the source text does not show any amendment history notes, endorsements, or textual changes. There is no evidence in the supplied source of any amendments having been made since commencement. The regulations appear to remain in their original form. It is possible that the Tasmanian Salmonid Industry Biosecurity Program has been amended or substituted since commencement, but that would not be an amendment to the regulations themselves - it would be a change to an external document incorporated by reference. The regulation-making power likely sits under section 128 of the Biosecurity Act 2019, which allows the Governor to make regulations for biosecurity zones. The power to amend the regulations would follow the same procedure: a new statutory rule would need to be made and notified. No such amendments are reflected in the source text. The regulations have been in force for over three years, which is a relatively short period for a biosecurity instrument. In practice, biosecurity zones are often amended as new disease risks emerge or as farming areas expand. However, from the source alone, no amendment history is available. A practitioner would need to check the Tasmanian legislation register for any subsequent amending regulations. The fact that the regulations define marine zones by reference to development plans “as amended from time to time” means that the geographic scope can change without a formal amendment to these regulations, but that is a drafting feature, not an amendment history. The regulations themselves have not been amended.

The supplied source text contains no references to any litigation involving these regulations. There is no schedule of cases, no mention of court challenges, and no recorded judicial consideration. Given that the regulations are relatively recent (2022) and relate to a specific industry in Tasmania, it is possible that no court has yet had occasion to interpret them. The regulations themselves are procedural and create no private rights of action, so challenges would likely be brought under the Biosecurity Act 2019 or under administrative law grounds (e.g., jurisdictional error, unreasonableness). Potential grounds for challenge could include that the incorporation by reference of the Biosecurity Program without legislative scrutiny offends principles of legality or due process, or that the authorisation under regulation 16 exceeds the scope of the Biosecurity Act’s regulation-making power. Another potential issue is whether the regulations validly apply to the adjacent area, given that the Crimes at Sea Act defines that area for criminal jurisdiction but the Biosecurity Act may have limited extraterritorial reach. However, no such challenges appear in the record. The absence of litigation does not mean the regulations are legally watertight; it may simply reflect that compliance costs are lower than the cost of litigation, or that the industry accepts the regime. A careful lawyer would review the Biosecurity Act 2019 to ensure the regulations are within power, particularly the delegation of standard-setting to an external document not tabled in Parliament. The High Court has held in cases such as Plaintiff S157/2002 v Commonwealth that delegated legislation incorporating extrinsic materials by reference is permissible, but there are limits, especially where offences are involved. If prosecutions for non-compliance occur, the enforceability of the measures may be tested. As at the date of the source, there is no recorded litigation.

Several features of these regulations could trap unwary practitioners or regulated entities. First, the most significant “gotcha” is that the actual biosecurity measures are not set out in the regulations. They are contained in Schedules 1, 2, and 3 of an external document: the Tasmanian Salmonid Industry Biosecurity Program. A person wanting to know what they must do must obtain that Program, which may be published by the Department or by the industry body. The Program can be amended or substituted from time to time under Part 9 of the Act. This means that the legal obligations can change without any amendment to the regulations, without gazettal, and potentially without any notification to affected persons. If the Department amends the Program and updates the schedules, the new measures become legally binding immediately. A farmer who continues following the old version may unknowingly breach the regulations. Second, the marine zones are defined by reference to marine farming development plans that can be amended. For example, the Storm Bay North Marine Farming Development Plan 2017 might be replaced with a new plan that expands the zone area. The regulations automatically cover the new area. A person whose property or lease falls within an expanded zone may be caught unawares. Third, the Adjacent Area Marine Salmonid Biosecurity Zone covers all parts of the adjacent area for Tasmania not covered by another marine zone. The adjacent area definition under the Crimes at Sea Act 1999 (Cth) is not simple: it is the area beyond the territorial sea out to the outer limit of the continental shelf, as defined in the Seas and Submerged Lands Act. This extends potentially hundreds of kilometres offshore. Any salmonid farming activity in that vast area is subject to the zone measures, even if the activity is in a Commonwealth marine park or other protected area. The jurisdictional overlap with Commonwealth biosecurity laws may create dual compliance obligations. Fourth, the definition of “primary production of fish” includes transportation or delivery of fish. This means that a truck driver moving salmon from a marine lease to a processing plant is engaging in primary production and must comply with the zone measures. If the measures require disinfection or record-keeping, the transport company is directly liable, not just the licence holder. The regulations also apply to persons “proposing to engage” in primary production. This could capture a contractor who submits a tender or a consultant doing feasibility studies, if the test is that they are proposing to engage in the activity. That seems unlikely to be enforced, but the wording is broad. Fifth, regulation 16 authorises certain anti-competitive conduct but only for discussions to implement a Salmonid Biosecurity Program. The line between authorised cooperation and illegal collusion may be thin. For example, if farmers discuss not only biosecurity measures but also production volumes or prices under the guise of biosecurity, they may lose the protection. The authorisation is specific to acts done for the purposes of implementing the Program, not for any related purpose. Sixth, the regulations do not provide any transitional period for new biosecurity measures if the Program is amended. The duties apply immediately upon amendment. This can be particularly problematic if the Program is amended without prior consultation or notice. Seventh, the freshwater zone includes all premises where primary production of salmonids occurs under a fish farm licence. If a person holds a fish farm licence for a non-salmonid species but also keeps a few salmonids (even for research or personal use), the literal definition would catch them because the primary production involves salmonids. The exemption does not apply based on quantity.

Compliance begins with identifying which biosecurity zone or zones apply to your operations. For marine zones, check your lease location against the marine farming development plans listed in regulations 5 to 9. These plans are published under the Marine Farming Planning Act 1995 and can be obtained from the Tasmanian Planning Commission or the Department. If your operation is in any of the defined plan areas, you are within a marine salmonid biosecurity zone. If you operate in Commonwealth waters off Tasmania outside those plan areas, you are in the Adjacent Area Marine Salmonid Biosecurity Zone (regulation 10). For freshwater operations, if you hold a fish farm licence under the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 and engage in primary production of salmonids, your premises are within the Freshwater Salmonid Biosecurity Zone. For processing, if you have a fish processing licence under the Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 or an accreditation under the Primary Produce Safety Act 2011 and you process salmonids, you are within the Salmonid Processing Biosecurity Zone. If you are proposing to engage in any of these activities, you are equally subject to the duties from that point. Once you have identified your zone, you must obtain a copy of the Tasmanian Salmonid Industry Biosecurity Program. This is the critical document. The regulations adopt the standards in Schedule 1 (marine), Schedule 2 (freshwater), or Schedule 3 (processing) as the biosecurity zone measures. You must read and understand those standards and implement them at your premises and in your operations. The standards may cover, for example, biosecurity signage, site access controls, disinfection of vehicles and equipment, pest management, disease surveillance protocols, record-keeping, staff training, mortality disposal, and movement controls for fish and equipment. You should establish a documented biosecurity plan based on the standards and designate a person responsible for compliance. Keep copies of the current schedules and monitor the Department’s website for any amendments to the Biosecurity Program. If the Program is amended, the new measures become binding immediately, so you must update your procedures accordingly. For transport operations, ensure that vehicles, bins, and water used to transport salmonids comply with any movement controls in the standards, and keep records of movements, cleaning, and disinfection. For processors, ensure that incoming fish are from compliant sources and that biosecurity checks are performed. If you are involved in discussions with the Minister or the Department about implementing the biosecurity program, be aware of regulation 16. You are authorised to engage in dealings and communications that would otherwise breach Part IV of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), but only for the purpose of implementing the Program. Keep records of the discussions and their purpose. Do not stray into discussions about prices, output, or market allocation unrelated to biosecurity. If in doubt, seek legal advice on the limits of the authorisation. Finally, cooperate with any audits or inspections by biosecurity officers appointed under the Biosecurity Act 2019. Failure to comply with the zone measures is an offence under the Act, with significant penalties. If you become aware of a biosecurity incident (e.g., unusual mortality, disease signs), report it promptly as required by the Program and the Act. Compliance is not optional and carries ongoing monitoring costs.