Every big business starts as a small one—Huon Aquaculture (Huon) started out in 1986 in Dover’s picturesque Hideaway Bay as the Bender family business. In 1994, Peter and Frances Bender bought out the family and began to expand Huon by contract-growing salmon. They continued with this model until 2005 when they stepped out and began to grow, market and sell their own Huon Salmon and Ocean Trout.

Peter remained Huon’s CEO and Frances the Board’s Executive Director until November 2021, when after 35 years of creating a company to be proud of, they decided to sell Huon Aquaculture to JBS Foods.

In 2018, Huon Aquaculture became the first salmon producer to join the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme. This achievement came after meeting the RSPCA’s detailed animal welfare standard for farmed Atlantic salmon and undergoing a rigorous and continual assessment process. Now Huon is able to supply Australia’s only range of RSPCA Approved salmon, enabling consumers to choose seafood that has been grown to higher welfare standards. The RSPCA’s standard for farmed Atlantic salmon does not allow for the farming of salmon in Macquarie Harbour therefore, 98 per cent of Huon’s salmon is currently farmed to the standard.

Today Huon employs over 800 people, farms Huon Salmon and Ocean Trout, sells fish across Australia and internationally, and leads the world in farming technologies such as our smart feed system.