ABSTRACT
In Australia, Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) is commonly referred to as barramundi and is widely popular for both food and recreational activities, as well as having signifi cant totemic value to indigenous Australians. Widely distributed throughout the Southeast Asian region, barramundi are endemic to tropical northern regions of Australia between the Mary River, eastern Queensland to the Ashburton River, Western Australia, where at least 21 defi nable and unique genetic strains exist (Jerry and Smith-Keune 2013Chapter 7). Throughout its Australian range a commercial net-based catch fi shery exists for barramundi, which in 2011 landed 1,996 tonnes live weight. Barramundi is also successfully farmed in Australia, with commercial farms operating in all Australian mainland states and the Northern Territory. Farming methods used in Australia include land based ponds and raceways, open ocean sea cages, and recirculation aquaculture systems. In northern regions where barramundi are endemic, the majority of commercial farmed
1Mainstream Aquaculture, PO Box 2286, Werribee VIC 3030 Australia. Email: www.mainstreamaquaculture.com 2Director C-AID Consultants, 38 Lake Ridge Crt, Lake Macdonald, Qld, 4563 Australia. 3Pejo Enterprises, PO Box 2103, Innisfail Qld 4860 Australia. *Corresponding author
production is land-based in open fresh-and brackish-water ponds, as well as in saltwater fl ow-through concrete raceway systems. Barramundi is also produced in marine based sea cages (Fig. 10.1). In southern climates outside the barramundi’s natural thermal range, production occurs in fully and semi-enclosed recirculating aquaculture systems, some of which utilise naturally occurring geothermal spring water to meet heating requirements (Fig. 10.1).
