Tassal has announced it will become the first Salmon farming company in Australia to use natural pigment supplements for all of its farmed Salmon in Tasmania.

Tassal CEO and MD Mark Ryan said the company had been investigating the viability of using a natural astaxanthin for some time. “We started this work because of the growing consumer preference for natural and organic products,” he said.

“Sourcing a sustainable and reliable source of natural astaxanthin has been a complex task, but we are confident that by 2017 the first diets containing natural astaxanthin will be delivered to our farms.” 

“Naturally sourced and synthetic astaxanthin are chemically identical and both are equally food safe. Our work in this area is independent of recent media scrutiny, and has been consumer driven.”

Mr Ryan said Tassal would work with feed supplier Skretting to phase in the new natural stockfeed pigment over the next 12-months.

“We will work through existing stocks as quickly as possible, aiming to have the new astaxanthin in all products as soon as practical,” he said.  Mr Ryan said while the current synthetic astaxanthin was completely food safe, Tassal understood that the use of natural pigment for salmon was more attractive to consumers.

“Tassal is always trying to improve what we do in our farming operations, for the environment and for our customers,” he said.

Astaxanthin is an important nutrient for salmon health, growth and survival. “Wild salmon are naturally pink from their diet and we are simply replicating a natural diet for our Salmon.”

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