Key benefits
A regenerative sea farm works from the surface to the seabed at once. Tap each layer to see what it gives back.
Every benefit, in one place
There are so many reasons a community should be farming the ocean — locally and globally. Here's the full picture.
Putting life and resilience back into the sea.
Restores damaged marine environments rather than depleting them.
Attracts fish and other wildlife.
Turns ocean deserts into places teeming with life.
Farms act as natural storm and swell breaks.
Clean, self-running, and good for the planet.
A genuinely sustainable way to grow food.
Completely self-sustaining and environmentally friendly.
No fertiliser, chemicals, antibiotics or feed required.
Shellfish are superb natural water filters.
Seaweed draws down carbon from the atmosphere.
Seaweed thrives on — and extracts — excess nitrates.
A real industry, and real regional jobs.
Strong profit potential as the model scales.
Creates employment, especially in regional communities.
Relatively simple to establish without huge upfront investment.
Hundreds of uses — as food and in countless products.
Made for Bruny, the Channel and beyond.
Ideal for Bruny, the Channel and Tasmania's east coast.
Barely visible, with no noise — activity happens below the surface.
A sustainable alternative to over-stretched land agriculture.
That's what makes integrated multi-trophic aquaculture different — the benefits stack, from the surface to the seabed.
By Jonathan Ross
By Jonathan Ross Bruny Island Seafarms is building a regenerative model of marine farming that works for the environment, the community and the people who do the work. Your support helps us prove it can be done — and helps us share the methodology so other coastal communities can build their own.
We are a Tasmanian social enterprise — a commercial seafarming company and a not-for-profit foundation, working together to demonstrate that integrated multi-trophic aquaculture can sustain regional jobs, restore marine ecosystems, and be replicated by co-operatives, fisher groups and family farms across coastal Tasmania.
We are aiming to raise $250,000 to $300,000 over our first two years. This funds operating costs across our two pilot sites, the salaries that keep our team working on this full-time, the development of our open-source IMTA Toolkit, the establishment of Seafarming Australia, and the documentation and monitoring work that will let other communities follow the model.
We are actively seeking partners, supporters and investors who share our values. There are several ways to get involved.
We welcome ethical investment from environmentally conscious individuals, family offices, impact investors and mission-aligned funds. Bruny Island Seafarms Pty Ltd is an operating company with three founder-shareholders. We are open to taking on outside investors on terms that align with our long-term regenerative, environmental and community mission.
If you are interested in exploring investment, contact us for a copies of our business documentation and financial model and we can have a serious conversation.
Contact:
Contributions of any size can help us fund the work that grants, investment and crowdfunding don't reach.
A note on tax-deductibility: Seafarming Australia, our not-for-profit foundation, is currently being established with assistance from Ashurst Lawyers, and is applying for DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient) endorsement, which we expect to receive by mid-2027. Until then, donations are not tax-deductible. Many of our supporters give regardless — your contribution funds the work directly either way.
To donate now, contact us at
If you are a Tasmanian business, philanthropic foundation, research institution, government agency or industry operator who could partner with us on grants, in-kind support, methodology development, processing infrastructure, or workforce development, we want to hear from you. We are particularly interested in:
Please contact us at
We are deliberate about who we work with. We welcome investment, partnership and support from parties who share our regenerative mission and our long-term outlook. We are an apolitical venture, and we do not accept support that compromises our environmental commitments or the open-source nature of our methodology.
Thank you
This is a long-term project to clean up our waterways, support rural employment and create sustainable food supplies. Seafarming Australia, the foundation that will eventually support replicator farms across Tasmania, is still being established. Every supporter — at any level — is helping prove the model can work, and helping us pass on what we learn.
Bruny Island Seafarms Pty Ltd | Seafarming Australia (in establishment)
Contact:
By Jonathan Ross A regenerative sea farm works from the surface to the seabed. Tap each layer to see what it gives back.
Every benefit, in one place
There are so many reasons a community should be farming the ocean — locally and globally. Here's the full picture.
Putting life and resilience back into the sea.
Restores damaged marine environments rather than depleting them.
Attracts fish and other wildlife.
Turns ocean deserts into places teeming with life.
Farms act as natural storm and swell breaks.
Clean, self-running, and good for the planet.
A genuinely sustainable way to grow food.
Completely self-sustaining and environmentally friendly.
No fertiliser, chemicals, antibiotics or feed required.
Shellfish are superb natural water filters.
Seaweed draws down carbon from the atmosphere.
Seaweed thrives on — and extracts — excess nitrates.
A real industry, and real regional jobs.
Strong profit potential as the model scales.
Creates employment, especially in regional communities.
Relatively simple to establish without huge upfront investment.
Hundreds of uses — as food and in countless products.
Made for Bruny, the Channel and beyond.
Ideal for Bruny, the Channel and Tasmania's east coast.
Barely visible, with no noise — activity happens below the surface.
A sustainable alternative to over-stretched land agriculture.
That's what makes integrated multi-trophic aquaculture different — the benefits stack, from the surface to the seabed.
By Jonathan Ross At Bruny Island Seafarm Inc, we are extremely fortunate to have an advisory board with members with such a broad range of experience across aquaculture, government, science and research, industry and business.
Louise is the Director of a consultancy servicing high risk clients throughout Australia and across a number of sectors, and is dually the General Manager of Environment, Health and Safety for Spektrum, a global leader Development by Consent™. Louise is a former Tasmanian EPA Board Member and has sat on a number of State advisory panels, including the Marine Farming Review Panel and Waste Advisory Committee. She approach her practice with the firm belief that environmental and economic goals are wholly compatible when sustainbility principles are applied to developments. Triggered by a deep interest in the natural world Louise completed her Bachelor of Science at the University of Tasmania, with a focus on the marine environment. This was followed was a 25 year career in mining and minerals processing, utilities, and ports and logistics, before opening her successful consultancy in 2011.
Louise is highly supportive of BISF and the aspirations for sustainably produced seafood. The BISF model aligns with her values and she has consented to becoming a foundation member of our Advisory Board.
I have lived on Bruny Island my entire life and have a deep connection to its people, coastline, and surrounding waters. I have been involved in the oyster farming industry for over 20 years, establishing Get Shucked Oysters in 2004 at the age of 22.
With the support of my partner Nicole Adams and our dedicated staff, we built a business that continues to thrive today. During this time, I was honoured to receive both the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Young Achiever Award and the Agriculture Young Achiever Award.
I completed a degree in Aquaculture, gaining extensive industry knowledge and building strong relationships throughout Tasmania’s seafood and aquaculture sectors.
Today, I continue to live in Great Bay with Nicole and our two children, who share the same love and respect for Bruny Island and its unique marine environment.
Antoine Huon is a commercially and operationally astute executive with over two decades of leadership in aquaculture, FMCG and food manufacturing across Australia and international markets. As Chief Commercial Officer at ASX-listed Clean Seas Sustainable Seafood, he has held full P&L responsibility across Sales and marketing, supply chain and customer service, processing, new product development and harvest planning — delivering over 40% revenue-per-kg growth across five years and the company's first consecutive profitable financial years. His commercial acumen is matched by deep operational capability: He has built and restructured and built high-performing teams across Europe, Asia and North America, overhauled premium brand positioning, and successfully launched new products across retail and foodservice. Earlier roles at Huon Aquaculture ,Tassal Group and Silco International in Hong Kong further cemented his expertise in processing, industrial channels and global distributor development.
Antoine's core strengths lie in translating complex global supply chains and diverse international markets into sustained, profitable growth. He brings proven capability across new market development, strategic partnerships, processing, NPD from concept to shelf, customer service excellence and cross-functional team leadership — consistently delivering results by building cultures of accountability and commercial discipline. Born in France, raised in the Philippines and having worked across Asia, Europe and Australia, he brings rare cultural fluency to cross-border trade. This combination of strategic vision, hands-on operational depth and international market intelligence makes him a distinctive executive for any investor-backed venture seeking to scale premium aquaculture or food businesses in domestic and global markets.
Megan Gunn is a Tasmanian-based education leader and community advocate, with over 30 years in leadership and governance roles. She has a strong commitment to supporting young people, regional communities and local industry through better education and sustainable workforce pathways.
Megan brings valuable experience from her time as Director of Vocational Learning in the Department for Education, Children and Young People and Senior Education Adviser to the Tasmanian Minister for Education, where she worked closely with government, industry and community stakeholders to address local priorities and emerging challenges.
Throughout her career, Megan has led initiatives that connect education with industry needs, particularly in regional sectors such as tourism, trades and community services. She is known for building strong partnerships, supporting local opportunities for young people, and contributing to sustainable community development across Tasmania.
Megan brings to the Board a collaborative, practical approach, with a strong focus on supporting local communities, strengthening workforce capability, and ensuring regional industries continue to thrive.
By Jonathan Ross Bruny Island Seafarms Pty Ltd is our incorporated commercial entity, responsible for all farming operations, product development, and commercial revenue across the D'Entrecasteaux Channel sites.
Alongside it, we've established Seafarming Australia as our charitable foundation — the entity through which we pursue education, community engagement, habitat restoration research, and the open-source replication of the IMTA model across Tasmania and beyond. Seafarming Australia is currently completing registration with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), with Ashurst Lawyers engaged pro bono to guide us through that process.
Once registered, we'll seek endorsement for key tax benefits through the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), including:
This dual-entity structure is at the heart of how we've designed the whole venture. It lets us draw on commercial investment, government grants, and philanthropic capital at the same time — each directed to the entity and activity it's best suited to support. The Foundation brings the governance transparency, independent board accountability, and public trust that research partners, government agencies, and major donors look for.
The commercial entity brings the operational flexibility and revenue discipline that allows the model to stand on its own feet over time.
If you have any questions about our structure or operations, please
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