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Sunday, February 22, 2026
On Friday, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) announced they requested Abbey Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company, about proposed suspension of florfenicol, a veterinary antibiotic, emergency permit due to concerns about it leaking excessively far from a salmon farm at south-east of Tasmania and contaminating wildlife. APVMA said they have requested the permit holder to respond by March 2 providing “evidence to satisfy the trade criteria” as otherwise the florfenicol emergency permit would be suspended.
At APVMA’s request, the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies for Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment collected 850 samples of sea life to test for the pharmaceutical. The institute reported finding florfenicol in “very low concentrations”, up to 0.06 mg/kg, in 165 samples with another 209 samples pending the test result, ABC News reported on Thursday. The furthest samples from the salmon farm site was at Standaway Bay at distance of 10.6 km from nearest salmon farm.
Professor Mark Blaskovich from University of Queensland noted that exposure to ‘1/20th of therapeutic concentration of the antibiotic needed to kill bacteria’ likely increases the resistance of the bacteria to the antibiotic, as the concentration is not lethal, and the bacteria may develop themselves and, having stayed alive, may successfully spread their resistance to other bacteria.
Professor Blaskovich also noted bacteria were able to spread antibiotic resistance to other bacteria species, and, if passed enough, could pose risk for humans being treated with a similar antibiotic. He said, “It’s a sub-lethal concentration of an antibiotic where bacteria that are exposed to it are able to develop tolerance to it because it’s at a level where it’s not rapidly killing them. If the bacteria develop resistance against florfenicol, they’ll also likely be resistant against chloramphenicol, and bacteria are very prolific about being able to share their resistance.”
 | Premier Rockliff now has no other option. He must stop supporting the salmon industry’s use of the florfenicol in Tasmanian waters and require diseased pens be destocked immediately. — Dr Rosalie Ellen Woodruff MP, Tasmanian Greens |  |
Two commercial lobster fisheries near Bruny Island closed last year, concerned about possible presence of florfenicol in their products exported internationally. On Friday last week, Tasmanian Greens leader Dr Rosalie Ellen Woodruff MP announced a comment welcoming the authorities move to suspend the usage of the antibiotic and noting that infected fish should be removed rather than treated with the chemical. She said, “The Greens welcome the proposal from the APVMA to suspend the Tasmanian salmon industry’s permit for florfenicol. This decision is an indictment on the Liberal Government, who never should’ve supported the rushed approval of the antibiotic in Tasmanian waterways. They’ve consistently dismissed concerns of the community and local fishing industry, even yesterday as the antibiotic was recorded in wild fish more than ten kilometres away from salmon pens. Premier Rockliff now has no other option. He must stop supporting the salmon industry’s use of the florfenicol in Tasmanian waters and require diseased pens be destocked immediately.”
The permit allowed using the chemical for “ten consecutive days at 10 to 20 milligrams per kilogram of body weight” noted as example “would require approximately 8.4 tonnes of pure florfenicol for 56,000 tonnes of salmon”, and was applicable only to the “south-eastern biosecurity zone” in Tasmania, as noted at a Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee session at Australian Parliament in an Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry portfolio session in December last year.
APVMA granted an emergency permit PER96499 to use the antibiotic following an outbreak of P. salmonis bacteria disease outbreak in November last year.
- Salmon industry facing florfenicol ban after antibiotic found in marine life — Pulse Tasmania, February 21, 2026
- Licence for antibiotic use in Tasmanian salmon may be suspended — ABC News, February 20, 2026
- Salmon farm antibiotics found in native species — ABC News, February 19, 2026
- APVMA announces proposed suspension of florfenicol use in salmon — Tasmanian country, February 18, 2026
- Hansard (Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee – 02/12/2025 – Estimates – AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY PORTFOLIO) — Australian Parliament, December 2, 2025
