Ocean fish and seaweed to be farmed hundreds of kilometres inland
December 2, 2024 8:27 AM   Subscribe

Ocean fish and seaweed to be farmed hundreds of kilometres inland using salt water from deep underground. An Adelaide-based aquaculture company hopes to use saline groundwater to grow the products at a landlocked site in South Australia's Riverland.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (8 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I have nothing but confidence that the company will be careful, has the necessary technical knowledge and bonded insurance so that there are no negative externalities that will outweigh the quantity of fish and seafood they produce. As always, the market directs its efforts and the highest and best use of resources, and making an inland sea is obviously a better use than say, cutting back on wasteful over-consumption or whatever.

Carry on.
posted by No Climate - No Food, No Food - No Future. at 9:09 AM on December 2, 2024 [3 favorites]


Wow, salty.
posted by ambrosen at 9:12 AM on December 2, 2024 [1 favorite]


This is pretty cool! I'm broadly in favour of moving fish farming operations onto land to prevent cross-contamination with wild stocks, and using salty groundwater that would otherwise be unsuitable for use seems like a slam dunk.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 9:31 AM on December 2, 2024 [6 favorites]


My understanding is that inland intensive aquaculture is generally regarded as more sustainable than coastal aquaculture. I think that's because they tend to be closed systems rather than spilling waste out into the ocean... it's not clear from the article if they're planning to dump their wastewater or recycle it.
posted by eraserbones at 10:16 AM on December 2, 2024 [4 favorites]


From their website: "The facility will be the first commercial low to zero discharge intensive inland indoor RAS in Australia...". Sounds like they are saying they will recycle it but I don't know how much discharge is covered under "low to zero"
posted by being_quiet at 11:04 AM on December 2, 2024 [3 favorites]


✔ Salt
✔ Fat (fish)
✔ A seaweed
✔ Heat
posted by rory at 11:58 AM on December 2, 2024 [1 favorite]


That’s a lot of kilometers!
posted by Captaintripps at 2:02 PM on December 2, 2024


This sort of makes sense, although even more fucking about with the Murray-Darling river system worries me a lot. I hope the idea, if it gets started at full scale, is a commercial success, because all that ground is going to be useless for anything else once they get started.
posted by dg at 10:13 PM on December 2, 2024 [1 favorite]


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