Most Inaguans still work in the salt business today. It is the only major industry on the island, and provides them with a comfortable standard of living. The Morton Salt Company produces about a million pounds of salt a year here, second largest solar saline operation in North America. The next time you grab that salt shaker, there's a good chance that the contents originated in Inagua. The process of producing salt is another fascinating testament to how resourceful and ingenious man, combined with nature, can be.
Sea water is pumped into the interior of the island and held in dikes.
There are 80 salt ponds, covering over 12,000 acres. As the water evaporates, it turns into heavy brine. A continual process of the salt solidifying at night and melting during the heat of the day, forms a crystallized bed at the bottom of the pond. In the final stage, any remaining water is drained and the salt is bulldozed into bleached white mountains and shipped around the world for processing. Inagua's environment is ideal for salt production.