A south west Western Australia Marron farm has established itself as both a training body and an employer for local Noongar people.
Ngalang Boodja Aboriginal Council Corporation, established the commercial farm in Collie in 2008 in partnership with Premier Coal and the Aquaculture Council of WA.
Marron is traditionally a major food source for Aboriginal people in the South West and it is a sought after delicacy in WA restaurants. The Ngalang Boodja farm had its first successful harvest in 2011 and the marron is sold to a local wholesaler in Manjimup.
The farm's 22-pond set up uses treated water from a coal lake, which is an old coal mine that has filled with water.
The enterprise has the capacity to employ several part time workers at the facility, but there is also a dedicated volunteer base.
Joseph Northover, one of the directors of Ngalang Boodja Enterprise, says the farm is still on its way to being commercially viable and it is not in a position to be a full time employer within the community. But he says he would like to see more people in the Noongar community take up an opportunity to work at the farm - both paid and unpaid - for the work experience opportunity.
Ngalang Boodja Aboriginal Council Corporation CEO Louis Evans was the driving force behind the Marron farm. Dr Evans was a professor of aquatic science at Curtin University when she managed a major research project called the Centre for Sustainable Mine Lakes. The project was set up to determine why mine lakes were acidic and whether the water could be treated for commercial or community use.
Dr Evans says the farm is still in its early commercial stages and it is still being supported by the Ngalang Boodja Enterprise but she hopes to get more locals involved and get to the point where the farm can support more jobs and community projects under the Ngalang Boodja Council.
The AquaculturistsThis blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd.