It had been suggested to us by friends (strongly) that whilst we were in Dover we should take the opportunity to drive around the coast north-east of the town where a couple of delightful beach villages could be found on the edge of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. Include a visit to the headquarters and farm shop of the Huon Aquaculture group and a good day out would be assured.
We accepted the advice and headed out of Dover along the Esperance Coast Road which soon took us high above the water through undulating countryside as we made our way towards our first stop, Big Roaring Beach.
A bend in the road gave us our first glimpse through the roadside scrub of the white sands of this rather intimidatingly named beach across the almost impossibly clear waters of the Channel.
A small group of predominately holiday homes cling to the slopes at what is essentially the southern end of the beach area. Here the road narrowed considerably as we negotiated a sharp bend
midway through this little cluster of houses
and continued on until we reached the unsealed entrance road which we hoped would take us to the main beach.
It did, and we were soon parked just off what could best be described as the hamlet's 'esplanade'.
Here a sandy track gave us access
to the broad expanses of the fine white sands of Big Roaring Beach itself, here seen looking to the north along the bay.
In the other direction, we could just make out some of the houses past which we had just driven,
tucked away between the hills and the sea.
Big Roaring Beach, which I have to say was anything but on the day of our visit (and given its location which is relatively sheltered I have no idea how it came by this name) is not a large village.
As this photo, courtesy of 'realestate' shows, like so many of these beachside holiday spots, the majority of the houses here are understandably located along the beachfront roadway. This is a location of increasing popularity which was demonstrated by the fact that a significant development behind the front row of homes was underway. We suspect that in the not too distant future this beach may indeed begin to roar, but not with surf!
As we continued on further north around this part of the coast, the elevated road again provided us with views across the D'Entrecasteaux Channel (how I wish the good Admiral had a shorter name!)
and it was here (through the haze) that we saw the first of the many salmon pens dotted throughout this section of the channel. This is really big business as we were to later discover in more detail.
Surveyors Bay was the next item on our touring agenda. We turned off the main road here where fat black cattle were contentedly munching on hay under the shade of a large pine
and wound our way slowly along the narrow dirt road which took us down the hill
into one of the prettiest little seaside enclaves we had visited to date.
As with Roaring Beach, the road here parallelled the shore line. We began our short exploration at the southern end of the beach
before making our way past this lush stand of trees and lovely lawns which covered the front yard of an obviously permanent residence.
Houses here varied quite a deal. Small holiday cottages lined the shore, one step back from the sand.
The owners of this one obviously had some serious spare time on their hands if the quaint craft adorning the side yard is anything to go by!
Now this is what I call a real beach shack,
and this is a real beach...fine bright white sand gently shelving down to the pristine blue waters of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel.
And here the potentially shifting sands are held firm by the colourful pigface, a coastal plant which always reminds me of the town of my early years, Port Lincoln.
Some who call Surveyors Bay home for varying periods of the year do not have the privilege of direct beach access, but they make up for it with size.
This view, from a roadway at the northern end of the beach, hopefully conveys some idea of the delightful mix of countryside green and shoreline white and blue which is Surveyors Bay.
I must say my rather feeble photographic representation does not do adequate justice to the delights of this lovely beach community. It was just so pretty and peaceful and, as we had been told, well worth a visit. If we ever moved south from the 'big island' this spot would be high on my house hunting agenda.
But enough of this dreaming....by now we both knew that we would never survive the Tassie cold long term (something which was more than reinforced later). So we farewelled Surveyors Bay, envious of those who made this place their home, but without a second glance over our shoulders as we rejoined the main road high above the water below, which was, by now, almost the Huon River estuary.
And Huon was now the word, Huon Aquaculture that is, and within a few moments of leaving Surveyors Bay we found ourselves overlooking the pens and shore facilities of this large producer of farmed Atlantic salmon,
where this relatively modest building houses the Farm Shop and company offices.
The gardens at the front of the building overlook a scene of aquatic clutter and activity,
all of which can be viewed by staff and visitors alike from the glass panelled room at the front of the building.
As we wandered inside to the visitor section
a staff meeting of some sort was in progress in the 'board room' next door. We had no contact with this group of employees, but we were briefed on company activities by a charming woman who ran the adjoining retail outlet, the so called 'Farm Shop'.
She told us about the boom slung here to protect the inshore holding pens where the mature fish are brought for final fattening
before they are sucked ashore along this pipe prior to being processed in the onshore factory.
These adults are feisty fellows indeed. As we watched from on high, fish in the holding pens were leaping and splashing as if they knew that this was their last hurrah. It was almost impossible to co-ordinate my camera shutter with these aerial acrobatics, but after many attempts I did just manage one.....you can see the splash in the upper corner of the near pen!
Huon Aquaculture began operations in 1986 when Peter and Frances Bender, then 'land' farmers, took the decision to grow Atlantic salmon to provide extra income. It is now big business. Last year the company, which provides employment for over 500 Tasmanians on sites right across the State, harvested nearly twenty thousand tonnes of fish retuning revenues of just under $300 million.
And Huon is but one of four major producers. Together with the Tassal Group, Petuna Aquaculture and Van Diemen Aquaculture, this industry employs over 5,000 and last year produced 55,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon. These are big numbers.
I was particularly interested in some of the craft which were being used here at Hideaway Bay. This odd looking vessel is used to transport fish feed to the various pens, and if you think this looks strange,
try this one for size! The 'Ronja Huon' is the only ship of its kind in the world at the moment.
This is its story (and more about salmon farming), thanks to the Huon website.
"The Ronja Huon is used for several purposes including bathing fish in freshwater, transporting fish to harvest and smolt (juvenile salmon) to sea.
Ronja Storm, our new well boat is currently being built in Norway and when completed, will measure 116 meters, have the capacity to bathe an entire 240 meter Fortress Pen, and will have an on-board desalination system.
Bathing
Tasmania is a unique environment when it comes to salmon farming. Amoeba is are native to Tasmania and are a single celled microscopic organism that has affected our salmon since the beginning of our industry. The Amoeba multiply and reduce water flow at the gill surface that can limit oxygen supply to the fish causing lethargy and, if untreated, death.
Because Amoeba are a marine parasite and can’t tolerate being in freshwater, whereas salmon can adapt to going between salt and fresh, bathing fish in fresh water cures the salmon of amoeba.
Huon is the first company globally to use a well-boat for the purpose of bathing fish in freshwater. What this means is that rather than needing to tow large liners full of freshwater, fish are transferred into the wells of the boat to swim around for a few hours before they are returned back to a pen.
Where freshwater liners only provide single use of freshwater before it is released back into the sea, a well-boat can clean and reuse the same supply of water up to six times. This has a significant impact on our freshwater efficiency for marine farming.
It makes the process of bathing and transporting fish far less stressful, is a safer working platform for workers undertaking bathing operations during adverse weather and reduces the need for higher numbers of smaller, noisier vessels to be moving around the waterways. By transporting all fish in an enclosed system that can be sterilised, the potential for disease transfer is reduced.
Transporting fish
When smolt are ready to go to sea or fish ready for harvest, they are transported in the Ronja Huon’s specially-built hull.
Transporting fish this way rather than the traditional method of towing pens full of fish, reduces the potential for disease transfer and fish escapes and the fish safe were they can be monitored on video screens."
Now just how many of you can honestly say you knew that these fish had to have a freshwater bath? What an incredible ship this is, and I have to say its development and the advantages it brings to the management of the salmon farming process seems typical of the attitude of Huon Aquaculture (as far as we could determine).
And no matter how big and clever new salmon farm boats become, there will always be a place for the little old tramp worker!
I have really only skimmed the surface of the facts and figures relating to this highly significant sector of the Tasmanian economy and, obviously, have focused on only one company. There is no bias intended....Huon just happened to be 'on the spot'.
But despite the many positives salmon farming brings to Tasmania, it is not all sweetness and light within the industry. Huon is at odds with Tassal and Petuna over the number of fish being farmed in the closed waters of Macquarie Harbour.
The Benders are arguing that the current biomass allowed by the EPA and other regulatory authorities is excessive and that it is unsustainable in that environment which is right alongside the Franklin-Gordon World Heritage area (the Gordon River empties into Macquarie Harbour ....as you will see later when I bring you our Gordon River cruise out of Strahan).
Huon has already reduced its pens here and litigation at State and Federal level is on-going (you may remember the recent Four Corners programme about this very issue). Tassal is far from onside in this matter, and as the 'big boy' of the local industry, has, as I understand it, dug in its corporate heels. This is an issue which has a long way to run I suspect.
But leaving all this aside, the big question remains.....did we leave the Huon Farm Shop proudly parading packaged portions of Atlantic salmon?
Well, yes we did, but I have to here confess that neither Liz nor I are real devotees. We both find smoked salmon a little rich and oily, but we did our bit nevertheless with two small samples of cold cured fish, whisky cured (of course) and the more exotic gin and kaffir lime cured product, and one large pack of wood roasted salmon.
Now whilst the afternoon treats of the cured product on cracker biscuits did not convince us to change our views about smoked salmon canapes, I did repair to the galley one lunch time to prepare a fritatta with a difference using sweet potato, spinach leaves, capsicum, eggs (of course), cream and the chunky slices of wood roasted salmon.
And the result? Modesty prevents me from trumpeting too triumphantly......let me just say 'Yum'!
Well, folks, that really is it for the Dover area. Tomorrow we head off further north to the epicentre of the Huon Valley, Huonville itself, where, amongst other things, we paid a right royal price for our campsite, I finally got the kayak off the roof and we spotted yet another platypus!
