A new gourmet sea salt production plant is capitalising on the clean waters off Tasmania's east coast, yielding its first batch in nearly two centuries.

Alice Laing and partner Chris Manson are hoping to spread the Tasmanian taste interstate and overseas within a year.

The plant at Little Swanport pumps seawater out of the ocean passing it through a series of filters, an evaporator and a drier - turning the once crystal clear water into salt crystals.

In the 1830s, the region was the site of a saltworks operation set up by Irish settler James Radcliff.

It was not a great commercial success and closed just over a decade later.

After divesting himself of the business, Mr Radcliff travelled alone to London for a short visit but never returned to Tasmania.

Legend has it that his wife met every boat arriving in Hobart from London in the vain hope her husband would return.

The saltworks at Little Swanport was a popular spot for east coast locals to explore in the 1930s. ( Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society )

But it is said a carpet bag thought to contain his headless and mutilated remains was discovered at Waterloo Bridge.

No positive identification was ever made.

Salt producers Alice Laing and Chris Manson are hoping to put Little Swanport on the map once again as a source of salt.

"We both love food, [we're] passionate about food and I think coming to Tasmania there's so much incredible produce coming from the island and then this amazing natural resource," Ms Laing said.

"Just the cleanest seawater you can find, so nutrient rich, wonderful for salt-making."

Centuries-old methods used for modern gourmet offerings

Mr Manson said the process for making salt had not changed for centuries.

"We suck up some seawater, we need to then concentrate it so it's essentially a saturated solution and at that point we then just heat it really gently," he said.

"It's all really a simple process that's been used for hundreds, if not thousands, of years."

Local Mayor Bertrand Cadart said the couple would have to work hard to rival the salt from his native France.

"It's not just salt, it's like a spice, it brings a taste to any food, even the most simple food, even a salad, a lettuce, but it has to be the right salt," he said.

"If they can supply me with the 'fleur de sel' from the east coast of Tasmania as good or almost as good as the French, yes I will switch."

Ms Laing said they were up to the challenge.

"It's salty but so clean tasting, so beautiful because you've got this incredible clean sea," she said.

The business hopes to start exporting interstate and overseas within a year.