Rural Solutions SA is emerging as the preferred supplier of environmental and advisory services for the South Australian Aquaculture Industry.

The consultancy work involved to date includes assisting aquaculture companies to:

• Compile applications for new sites which meet PIRSA Aquaculture's regulatory requirements.
• Compile applications for the amendment of existing sites such as additional species and movement of a site to a more preferred location.
• Understand and comply with their regulatory requirements such as the location of new aquaculture sites within and outside of aquaculture zone policies, species permitted in zone policies, maximum stocking densities allowed and distance required to be maintained between aquaculture structures and the sea floor.
• Assisting with completion of annual Environmental Monitoring Program requirements, including seafloor video transects and corresponding reports for subtidal molluscs and finfish sites.
  The aquaculture industry in South Australia continues to grow with the volume of aquaculture production in the 2005/2006 season being 17,535 tonnes, which had an estimated farm gate value of $AUD211 million.

The total production in the 1994/1995 season was around 1,197 tonnes, showing significant growth over the past 10 years.

The established species include finfish such as Southern bluefin tuna, yellowtail kingfish and mulloway, oysters and abalone with emerging species of mussels, algae, and other finfish species becoming more readily available.

One of the primary objectives of the Aquaculture Act 2001 is the ecologically sustainable development of marine and inland aquaculture.
To support this objective, the environmental standards for aquaculture have been established over time to ensure the industry is both environmentally sustainable and a key area of continuing investment.

As a result of this growth, large aquaculture organisations are emerging such as Clean Seas Tuna Limited which specialise in the production of finfish (including Southern bluefin Tuna) and Australian Bight Infrastructure Pty Ltd which specialise in the production of abalone. Both have sites located in various regions around the Eyre Peninsula.

Rural Solutions SA is currently working with both Clean Seas Tuna Pty Ltd and Australian Bight Infrastructure Pty Ltd to achieve the necessary leasing and licensing arrangements required to meet their forecasted business growth and ensure environmental monitoring to a standard accepted by PIRSA Aquaculture.

If interested in more information regarding this article contact Rural Solutions SA on 1300 364 322 or info@ruralsolutions.sa.gov.au