Sagiv Kolkovski - Mariculture Research & Development Group, Department of Fisheries, 1 Fleet St. Fremantle, Western Australia 6061. 
Gideon Hulata - Mariculture Research & Development Group, Department of Fisheries, 1 Fleet St. Fremantle, Western Australia 6061. 
Yitzhak Simon - Mariculture Research & Development Group, Department of Fisheries, 1 Fleet St. Fremantle, Western Australia 6061. 
Ran Segev - Mariculture Research & Development Group, Department of Fisheries, 1 Fleet St. Fremantle, Western Australia 6061. 
Avi Koren - Mariculture Research & Development Group, Department of Fisheries, 1 Fleet St. Fremantle, Western Australia 6061.

Israel is located in a semi-arid zone, with distinct wet winter and dry summer seasons, and a low average annual precipitation of 500 mm concentrated in the 4-5 winter months. Israel has no major rivers or underground freshwater sources. The only large inland water body is the Lake of Galilee, which mainly supplies freshwater for human consumption. Moreover, in the central-north areas of Israel, where the majority of the precipitation is concentrated, the hilly and mountainous land cannot naturally hold water. In spite of the obvious climatic constraints and overall shortage of water, both agriculture and aquaculture are highly developed in Israel and considered to be world-class.