In Western Australia, and now elsewhere, there has been considerable interest in marron farming for over two decades. Many schemes have come and gone and the highly optimistic attitude which once prevailed has gradually been replaced by a more realistic approach to marron aquaculture. While, for example, it was once considered that appropriate site selection would allow marron to be cultured to marketable size (120 g) on a yearly basis (Morrisey 1976), it was later realised that at least at intensive pond culture densities achievement of 120 g average weight in Western Australia was not possible even on a two-year schedule (Morrisey 1984(a)).

Most serious commercial interest in marron farming has been with pond and dam culture but there is still little clear evidence to the would-be marron farmer. Proposed management and pond designs are yet to be tested as full-scale enterprises. Reasons cited for the failure of many marron farming schemes include predation by birds and other animals, cannibalism, climatic and weather variability and extremes, and, increasingly, operator inexperience. Underlying such explanations is the fundamental fact that pond and dam ecosystems are extremely complex and unpredictable. There is a growing appreciation that marron are sensitive organisms which are intolerant of environmental extremes.