Farmed Atlantic salmon have been selectively bred to be more resistant to warmer waters and a deadly bacterial disease in a bid to control the drivers of last summer's mass fish death.

Major salmon operators Huon Aquaculture and Tassal, which have fish farms in south-east Tasmania, say they examined the DNA of 10,000 salmon for breeding purposes to find those most resilient to the deadly Piscirickettsia salmonis bacteria.

"We can use the top 1 per cent of our males like a stud bull," Huon breeding program manager Lewis Rands said.

" Choosing the very best fish has a massive impact on our whole industry. "

P. salmonis can cause fish to lose their appetite and become emaciated, often leading to death.

The bacteria has been blamed as a major driver of a mass mortality event between J

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