Western Australia has most of Australia’s salt affected land (> 2 million hectares), predominantly in the Wheatbelt region in the south of the state. In addition to affecting agricultural land, secondary salinisation also directly affects rural infrastructure and towns. A range of different mitigation strategies have been implemented across the state to protect these various assets.
From the late 1990s through to ~2010 a significant body of work was conducted nationally investigating inland saline aquaculture (ISA) as an adaptative strategy to this environmental problem which was seen to have many potential economic, social and environmental benefits. This research was funded through a range of federal and state agencies and granting bodies.
This presentation outlines the history of those investigations in Western Australia and focusses on the fish species considered and the culture technologies which were developed and assessed. A case-study of an operating inland saline farm which was subsequently developed in the WA Wheatbelt is presented as well as an outlook for the future of inland saline aquaculture in the state.