Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search
Home

Top navigation main

  • News & media
  • Jobs
  • Ministers
  • Contact us
Main menu

AWE Main

  • Agriculture and land
    Agriculture and land Building stronger and more sustainable agriculture, fisheries, forestry and land care.
    • Animal health
    • Climate change and agriculture
    • Drought, disaster and rural support
    • Farming, food and drought
    • Fisheries
    • Forestry
    • Levies and charges on agricultural products
    • Mouse infestation advice
    • Plant health
    Xylella

    Protect against unwanted plant pests

    Our biosecurity system helps protects us. Everyone has a role in supporting our biosecurity system.

    Find out more

  • Biosecurity and trade
    Biosecurity and trade
    • Aircraft, vessels and military
    • Biosecurity policy
    • Cats and dogs
    • Exporting
    • Importing
    • Pests, diseases and weeds
    • Public awareness and education
    • Trade and market access
    • Travelling or sending goods to Australia
    • Report a concern
    Brown marmorated stink bug

    BMSB Seasonal Measures

    Australia has strengthened seasonal measures to manage the risk of BMSB.

    View our seasonal measures

  • Science and research
    Science and research Undertaking research and collecting data to support informed decisions and policies.
    • Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES)
    • Plant Innovation Centre
    Abares

    ABARES Insights

    Get 'snapshots’ of agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries, or analysis of key issues.

    Find out more

  • About us
    About us We enhance our agricultural industries and trade, and manage the threat of biosecurity risks to Australia.
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Assistance, grants and tenders
    • Contact us
    • Fees and charges
    • News and media
    • Our commitment to you
    • Payments
    • People and jobs
    • Publications
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    Budget 2025-26

    Budget 2025-26

    The 2025–26 Portfolio Budget Statements were released on 25 March 2025.

    Find out more

  • Online services
    Online services We do business with you using online platforms. This makes it easier for you to meet your legal requirements.
Department of Agriculture

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Agriculture and land
  3. Fisheries
  4. Aquaculture

Sidebar first - Fisheries

  • Fisheries
    • Aquaculture
      • National Aquaculture Strategy
        • National Aquaculture Statement
      • Australian Government Aquaculture Statement
      • Aquaculture industry in Australia
      • Starting an aquaculture business
      • International collaboration
      • Aquaculture publications and useful links
    • Australian fisheries communication strategy
    • Australia's seafood trade
    • Domestic fisheries
      • Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and Guidelines
        • 2005 ministerial direction to AFMA
        • Public consultation on the draft Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy
        • Questions and answers
        • Review of the Harvest Strategy Policy and Guidelines
        • Terms of reference
      • Commonwealth fisheries resources sharing framework
      • National Fisheries Plan
      • Managing Australian fisheries
        • Small Pelagic Fishery
          • Campaign responses
      • National Competition Policy Review of Commonwealth Fisheries Legislation
      • The Australian Fishing Zone
      • South East Trawl Fishery structural adjustment package
    • Exporting fish and fish products
    • Fisheries and the environment
      • Commonwealth Marine Reserves
      • Fisheries Bycatch
        • Australian Seals and Sea Lions
        • Commonwealth Policy on Fisheries Bycatch
        • Seabird bycatch in Australian fisheries
        • National Policy on Fisheries Bycatch
        • Public consultation on the draft Commonwealth Fisheries Bycatch Policy
      • Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006
      • Sharks
        • Response to the Australian Marine Conservation Society and the Humane Society International
        • Response to the Australian Marine Conservation Society save our sharks campaign
    • Fisheries management review
      • Stakeholder input
    • Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
      • Overview: illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing
      • Compliance
      • FAO Agreement on Port State Measures
      • How flags of convenience provide cover for IUU fishing
      • Plans of action for IUU fishing
        • International and National Plans of Action
      • Steps Australia has taken to address illegal fishing
      • Combating IUU fishing and promoting sustainable fisheries in Southeast Asia
        • Accredited monitoring control and surveillance (MCS) training course
        • Fisheries Officer Exchange Program
        • Southeast Asia Regional Innovation Fund for Fishing (SEA-RIFF)
        • Targeted capacity building support
    • International fisheries
      • Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
      • Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna
        • Southern Bluefin Tuna
          • National recreational fishing survey of Southern Bluefin Tuna
      • Cooperation - Multilateral and Regional
        • APEC Fisheries Working Group
        • Indonesia - Australia Fisheries Cooperation
        • Pacific Ocean Fora
        • Papua New Guinea - Australia Fisheries Cooperation
        • Regional fisheries issues affecting Australia
        • United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Committee on Fisheries
      • Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC)
      • South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation - High Seas Fisheries Resources
      • Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement
      • Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
    • Legal and arrangements
    • Recreational fishing
    • Statutory Fishing Rights Allocation Review Panel
      • Applications for an Appeal
      • Contact details
      • Decisions
      • SFRARP frequently asked questions
      • Functions and power
    • Useful fisheries links
    • National Fishing Advisory Council
      • Priorities

Aquaculture

​The Australian Government has a number of important functions in relation to aquaculture, including national programs for research, management of biosecurity, aquatic animal health, food safety, environmental management, and market access and trade. However, primary responsibility for regulating aquaculture rests with the states and Northern Territory.

In 2017, the Australian Government released a national aquaculture strategy. The strategy was developed in consultation with key stakeholders, including industry and relevant Australian, state and Northern Territory government departments.

Aquaculture is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants with some sort of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding and protection from predators.

There are various stages of aquaculture operations including:

  • a hatchery operation which produces fertilised eggs, larvae or fingerlings
  • a nursery operation which nurses small larvae to fingerlings or juveniles
  • a grow-out operation which farms fingerlings or juveniles to marketable sizes.

Depending on the species being farmed, aquaculture can be carried out in freshwater, brackish water or marine water. There are a number of different systems that can be used for aquaculture, including ponds, tanks, pens and floating cages.

Aquaculture can be extensive, semi-intensive or intensive, depending on the level of input and output per farming area and the stocking density. Intensive aquaculture involves intervention in the growing process, such as with supplemental feeding and water aeration (such as prawn farming), whereas extensive aquaculture allows the stock to grow on its own, using natural food sources and conditions (such as oyster farming).

Aquaculture can be used to produce a variety of species including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants for human consumption, or for producing ornamental species and other products such as pearls.

Aquaculture can also be operated with other agriculture activities forming an integrated aquaculture–agriculture system. An example of an integrated aquaculture–agriculture system is the farming of fish in a rice field, or an aquaponic system.

If you are interested in starting an aquaculture business, you may wish to contact your relevant state or territory government department for more information.

General enquiries

Call 1800 900 090

Contact us online

Report a biosecurity concern

Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip
Page last updated: 04 November 2019

We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia. We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Artwork: Protecting our Country, Growing our Future
© Amy Allerton, contemporary Aboriginal Artist of the Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Gamilaroi nations.

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI

© Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Facebook X LinkedIn Instagram