Executive Summary
What is the report about?
This report summarises the outcomes of a project that investigated the potential role of aquaculture in utilising the extensive inland saline water resources that exist in many areas of Australia. Management of these saline resources often involves expensive, large-scale infrastructure. Aquaculture has the unique potential to offset some of these management costs by utilising existing resources (water, salt, land, infrastructure and energy) to produce other value-added commodities. In this study, the intensive culture of brine shrimp or Artemia spp.¹ in an indoor tank system was evaluated for technical and economic viability

Who is the report targeted at?
This report is targeted at investors who may be considering inland saline aquaculture as a business opportunity. It provides technical, market and economic information that will assist them with their decision making. It also provides a framework for business planning that includes guidance on appropriate selection of sites and technology. The various government approvals and licences that may be required prior to development. It is also targeted at organisations involved in the management of a SIS as well as regional communities adjacent to the evaporation basins that may be able to capitalise on the opportunity of building a new rural industry

Background
Salinisation of land and water resources is a critical problem in inland Australia that has rendered large areas of agricultural land unproductive and caused a marked deterioration in the quality of surface waters. In the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), an engineering solution to the salinity problem, in the form of large-scale Salt Interception Schemes (SIS), has been adopted. These schemes work by intercepting saline water flows and disposing of them, usually by evaporation. A number of SIS have now been built across the MDB, with more being planned or built even though these schemes are expensive to build and have high ongoing operating costs

Aims/ objectives
Specifically, the objectives of this project were:

• To develop a commercially viable aquaculture system applicable to existing and planned saline evaporation basins throughout the Murray Darling Basin
• To develop business planning guidelines applicable to aquaculture in inland saline waters

Methods used
Under this project, an aquaculture production facility was set up and operated at a saline water evaporation basin in northern Victoria. The industry partner in the project, Pyramid Salt Pty. Ltd., currently owns and operates a salt water interception scheme at Pyramid Hill, south of Kerang, that producing various quality grades of salt. Some aquaculture infrastructure was already on-site due to earlier trials conducted by Pyramid Salt, but this had been unused for many years and required extensive upgrading and repair. A staged approach was adopted for the development of the pilot scale aquaculture venture at Pyramid Salt:

• A market survey was undertaken on potential aquaculture species
• A literature review was conducted to identify optimal production scenarios
• A business plan was developed
• The aquaculture facility was upgraded and the demonstration site commissioned and
• Solar Pond™ technology was integrated into aquaculture production

Results/key findings
The site was commissioned in March 2004 and the project focussed on the production of frozen 125g blocks of Artemia biomass for sale to the Aquarium industry, primarily in Melbourne. The production methods, yields and revenues of biomass production are summarised in this report and used to assess the future viability of commercial production at the site. Trials were conducted with other species, but they were largely unsuccessful and it was concluded that co-production with fish and crustaceans was not compatible with intensive Artemia biomass production in an indoor tank system. Potential links with other agri-business that could be developed in an integrated salt production, aquaculture and agriculture venture were investigated. It has been estimated that for every 1 ha of evaporation basin, 50 ha of agricultural land is rehabilitated, which invites the option of moving to higher value agricultural production on the rehabilitated land. The results of this project have demonstrated that the production of Artemia biomass at salt interception schemes can be viable, with the appropriate selection of sites and production technology to maximise production and minimise costs. The prevailing climatic conditions will determine the extent to which water heating is required over the year and this will have a major bearing on the design and operation of the facility, particularly if there is no ready access to Solar Pond™ technologies

Implications and recommendations
The technology and the production techniques developed under this project are directly transferable to other evaporation basins in the MDB. In addition to the opportunities explored under this project, other options should be investigated to increase the economic sustainability of the operation, including:

• New markets for Artemia biomass: There is a large, unsatisfied market for live Artemia in Melbourne and other capital cities that was not explored during this project. This appears to be a lucrative and easily accessible market if an appropriate supply chain could be developed
• Improving yields from production tanks: Although good yields were obtained during the project, these could be improved through the refinement of feeding and water exchange regimes. It should be noted that the aquaculture venture developed under this project represents only one aspect of inland saline aquaculture applicable to saline groundwater interception schemes. Other aquaculture options that need further investigation include the stocking of Artemia in the evaporation ponds themselves for cyst production. This is more likely to be viable at the larger evaporation basins such as the new development at Pyramid Creek, also near Kerang in northern Victoria. There is also potential to develop other species (including fish and crustaceans) in the outdoor ponds provided that culture does not impact on the quality of water available for salt production

¹ Referred to in this report as Artemia
 

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