Rethinking the land: the development of inland saline aquaculture in Western Australia.

Abstract

Inland Saline aquaculture may offer an opportunity for income diversification and potentially productive use of land that can no longer support traditional agriculture in salt-affected parts of Australia. Interest in inland saline aquaculture is increasing in Western Australia, however, production and investment levels are characteristically low. Inland saline aquaculture presents a continuum of production and investment options for landholders and investors, from being small-scale, hobby-like remedial use of salinised farmland to a novel and legitimate agricultural industry. Successful progress toward the latter depends on a number of factors: appropriate production technology; identification and establishment of sustainable markets; establishment of environmentally sustainable production systems; and industry management. We use preliminary data from finfish aquaculture in inland Western Australia to consider why industry success requires concurrent development across all these fields