Tassal puts forward expansion plans for more leases at its Cone Bay Barramundi farm

Cone Bay Barramundi was bought by seafood giant Tassal. (ABC Kimberley: Andrew Seabourne)

Seafood giant Tassal has revealed plans to expand barramundi operations by more than tenfold throughout waters in Western Australia's remote north.

Tassal, which is owned by Canadian company Cooke, last year announced its acquisition of Marine Produce Australia, the company behind Cone Bay Barramundi.

It came after Marine Produce Australia entered voluntary administration in May 2023 following the failed sale of the Cone Bay Barramundi farm.

Marine Produce Australia had previously put forward a proposal to the WA Environmental Protection Authority to expand the Cone Bay farm by more than 20-fold, costing an anticipated $300 million.

The proposal cited the operation's lack of commercial viability without expansion.

Tassal has reissued an amended version of the proposal to the watchdog, including seven new aquaculture leases, six fewer than the 13 proposed by its predecessor.

Each lease would consist of 12 fish cages, with Tassal's expansion proposal totalling 84 new cages.

It would cover 817 hectares, down from a previously proposed 1,213 hectares, and ditched barramundi nurseries pitched by its predecessor.

In a statement, Tassal general manager Tom Middleton said the company had spent time engaging with people impacted by the proposed expansion, particularly the traditional owners of the sea country.

"We continue to have deep and meaningful conversations with Mayala around our expansion project, and have been privileged to spend many days with them in recent months," Mr Middleton said.

"We have implemented strict measures to maintain marine environmental quality and protect habitats, wildlife and the sea floor."

Mr Middleton said the expansion would allow the company to grow up to 17,500 tonnes of barramundi and support 140 new jobs.

"Moving forward, we look forward to more conversations about this exciting project with the local community," he said.

Traditional owners hopeful

Members of the Mayala Inninalang Aboriginal Corporation said they had begun early conversations with Tassal about the proposed expansion on Mayala sea country.

Senior Mayala project officer Janella Isaac said free prior and informed consent was important.

"We've made it very clear that we will only give consent to the proposed future expansion if we're satisfied there will be an economic benefit for Mayala from the project," she said.

"And [only if we are satisfied] with the environmental, social and cultural impacts of a large scale barramundi farming in ocean cages on our country.

"Mayala respects that these negotiations are all voluntary, Tassal approached us and previous to that we hadn't had any direct engagement [with prior owners of Cone Bay Barramundi], so it's good to have a say."

Ms Isaac said she and other Mayala traditional owners hoped to be involved in environmental monitoring of the fish farms in the future.

"We'd like to have a cultural perspective around monitoring as well, making sure everything is managed in the right way," she said.

Council wants more communication

In Derby, the nearest major town to Cone Bay, leaders said there needed to be broader consultation with the local community.

"There is still some concern and quite rightfully so within the community about where [Tassal] are going to put them [the new leases]," Derby West Kimberley Shire President Peter McCumstie said.

He said he would also like to see more talk about local employment.

"When the barra farm operations first started in Cone Bay there was a reasonable amount of employment opportunity for local people in the Derby area and that's waned quite significantly over recent years," he said.

"So we are pushing Tassal to look at Derby as their main source of local employment."