Antibiotic found in wild seafood 14 kilometres from salmon farm

The salmon industry was granted an emergency licence to use florfenicol in November last year, but the permit was revoked in March. (Supplied: Tassal)

A "low-level" amount of the antibiotic florfenicol was detected in wild seafood 14 kilometres from where it was used, Tasmania's Natural Resources and Environment Department says.

Many domestic and overseas markets have a zero tolerance policy for traces of antibiotic in wild seafood.

The Natural Resources and Environment Department says the area where the detection was made is closed to commercial fishers as a precautionary measure, and that it will "continue to work with the seafood industry regarding the management settings that are in place for those areas".

A "low-level" amount of an antibiotic used to treat farmed salmon in south-east Tasmanian waters was found in wild seafood 14 kilometres away from where it was administered, Tasmania's Natural Resources and Environment Department has confirmed.

"The detection was within an area already subject to a temporary precautionary closure, established in consultation with the seafood industry," an NRE spokesperson said.

The salmon industry was granted an emergency permit in November last year to use florfenicol.

The permit was suspended in March after testing found traces of the antibiotic in wild fish, abalone and rock lobsters 10.6 kilometres away from salmon pens, causing concerns in the seafood export industry.

Independent Franklin MHA Peter George questioned Premier Jeremy Rockliff about the detection 14km from a treatment site during budget estimates hearings yesterday morning.

Mr Rockliff did not confirm the detection, but it was confirmed by the department yesterday evening.

Mr George said the public had a right to know about the latest testing results.

"And what this means is that the interest of rock lobster fisheries, the interest of abalone fisheries, let alone the interest of anybody who uses our waterways, have been subsumed by the demands of the salmon industry."

Peter George says the public should be told about florfenicol test results. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)

Mr Rockliff told the budget estimates committee that while his views and Mr George's views "differ in certain areas when it comes to the salmon industry" they "would be of like mind when it comes to ensuring sustainability and transparency with respect to inputs into the industry".

The use of florfenicol over summer was in response to a mass mortality event between January and March last year when more than 13,500 tonnes of fish died from a bacterial disease.

Florfe