Resources

Despite Western Australia’s long coastline, our aquaculture industry is small by global standards – but it is growing and diversifying, with exciting opportunities on the horizon.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 21.04.2021

Aquaculture is the breeding, hatching, culturing or harvesting of aquatic organisms. It is similar to agriculture, but involves marine plants and animals instead of land based crops and livestock.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 21.04.2021

Aquaculture may be conducted in coastal ocean waters, freshwater ponds and rivers, and even on land in tanks. Operators range from ‘hobby farmers’ to large, international corporations. It can be categorised according to the type of aquatic environment (eg. fresh, brackish or marine water), the type of production system used (eg. pond, cage, pen, raft, etc.), the level of intensity (extensive, intensive) or the type of organism cultured (eg. fish, crustaceans, molluscs etc.).

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 21.04.2021

Reefs provide a foundation for many plants and animals, supporting a great diversity of marine organisms that rely on the reef for food, protection, shelter and somewhere to reproduce. Reefs create a natural buffer to strong winds and waves that would otherwise erode the coastline.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 26.05.2020

With an exceptionally large tidal range, Roebuck Bay is one moment a sublime seascape, and the next, an incredibly vast mudflat that shimmers with heat mirages under the tropical sun.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 12.05.2020

Montgomery Reef is like no other reef system on earth. Formed some 1.8 billion years ago, this ancient reef is recognised today as one of the most significant geological marine environments in the Kimberley.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 12.05.2020

The East Kimberley is home to the impressive Ord River, a 650 kilometre long watercourse with an expansive catchment area of around 55,100 square kilometres.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 12.05.2020

Cruising along the coast, it can be difficult to fathom the true scale of the Kimberley, with thousands of islands, inlets, bays, rivers and creeks. It is not until you enter the huge bay of Prince Frederick Harbour that you are given a real appreciation for the dimensions of the Kimberley coast.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 12.05.2020

From Collier Bay to King Sound just north of Derby, lies a group of 800 or more scattered islands and low-lying reef known as the Buccaneer Archipelago. Lying crumpled and creased, the archipelago’s shores are notched with a myriad of mangrove estuaries, bays and sand beaches, plunging cliffs and rocky masses, rugged headlands and islands, and innumerable hidden reefs.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 11.05.2020

A favourite stopover for cruise vessels on the Kimberley coast. Camden Sound is a labyrinth of red cliffs and mangrove lined bays and inlets, dotted with small islands and rocky outcrops.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 08.05.2020

Imagine an isolated beach of endless white sand, seashells and turquoise waters, stretching so far it would take more than a week to walk its length. Aptly named, Eighty Mile Beach is indeed long, stretching 220 kilometres and renowned as Australia's longest uninterrupted beach.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 08.05.2020

• An embayment of exceptional scenic beauty in the Kimberley.
• Horizontal Waterfalls is described by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world”, where massive tides create intense currents between two narrow gorges resulting in a waterfall effect that is horizontal rather than vertical.
• Turtle Reef is a flourishing reef that survives in turbid intertidal conditions, challenging scientific dogma that corals need clear, oceanic water to prosper.

Resource type: Fact SheetLast updated: 06.05.2020