SALT ravaged lands in the Wheatbelt may not be good for growing crops, but a long term research project at Murdoch indicates that the conditions are perfect for farming black bream.

Black bream is the only freshwater fish native to Western Australia that is suitable for angling, and currently only exists as wild populations in estuaries.

Although black bream is one of the most popular recreational angling fish species in WA estuaries, little was known about their biology until PhD student Gavin Sarre at Murdoch’s Centre of Fish and Fisheries began his research in 1992.

During his PhD, Dr Sarre investigated the biology and different conditions experienced by several genetically distinct populations of black bream.

“Black bream are found in estuaries that differ in their physico-chemical characteristics throughout the State, indicating that they are a highly adaptable species,” he said.

These studies were undertaken at the same time that colleagues at the Aquaculture Development Unit at Fremantle TAFE began culturing black bream in 1992.

This process was so successful, the fish were marketed to farmers as a new species for their dams.

“Over the next few years, over 200 000 juvenile black bream were stocked into water bodies ranging from Carnarvon to Esperance,” said Dr Sarre.

“They were placed in a huge range of habitats, include freshwater tanks, saline dams and even a Cable Water Ski Park.”

In a project funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) in 1997-98, Dr Sarre surveyed the water bodies on over 150 properties in Western Australia and collected data on the survival and growth rates of these fish.

To his surprise he found that the saline water bodies on salt affected land in the Wheatbelt were associated with the best survival and growth rates of the stocked black bream.

Still based at Murdoch, Dr Sarre is currently half-way through a three-year project funded by the FRDC in Northam, where he is finding the optimum conditions to grow the fish.

“We are looking for ways to improve growth rates, cut down predation from cormorants and determine the most conducive water conditions for optimal survival and growth,” he said.

This information will be used to initiate Western Australia’s first venture into marketing a native estuarine fish species for commercial production.