Rethinking the Land: The Development of Inland Saline Aquaculture in Western Australia

Inland saline aquaculture may offer an opportunity for income diversification and a potentially productive use of land that can no longer support traditional agriculture in salt-affected parts of inland 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 a 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.