International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium

Brine shrimp Artemia nauplii constitute the most widely used live-food item for the larviculture of crustaceans and fish. The unique property of Artemia is its ability to to form dormant embryos or 'cysts'. The cysts are available year-round in large quantities along the shorelines of hypersaline lakes, coastal lagoons and solar salt works.

The aim of this manual is to provide technological guidelines to extension agents, researchers, and salt farmers on Artemia production in salt farms in Cox’s Bazar. The manual was prepared through review recent of activities in Artemia production, the 1996 FAO Manual on the production and use of live food for aquaculture, the 2019 book “ Principle of Artemia culture in solar salt works”, relevant books and published research papers. The manual covers Artemia biology and ecology, standard methods for incubation and stocking, pond management, feeding, health, harvesting and more.

Artemia nauplii are an excellent live food for larviculture of crustaceans and marine fish due to their high digestible protein content, essential fatty acids and small in size. In many countries, hatchery workers lack sufficient knowledge and practices in the application of Artemia nauplii during larval rearing are not standardised. This has resulted in increased costs, disease incidence, and reduced survival in larval rearing.

This training manual on Artemia hatching and decapsulation provides guidance on optimising the use of Artemia nauplii in larval rearing. In addition, the standardised hatching procedure can be used to inoculate Artemia nauplii for culture in the salt farms of Bangladesh. 

Presentation by Prof. Patrick Sorgeloos, Ghent University, at the SDG-aligned Artemia Aquaculture Workshop, 22 September 2021.

Presentation by Meezanur Rahman, WorldFish Centre Bangladesh, at the SDG-aligned Artemia Aquaculture Workshop, 22 September 2021.

With the expansion of hatchery production, the demand for Artemia cysts has continued to increase. Annual consumption is now estimated at 3,500 – 4,000 tonnes, underpinning the production of over 900 billion crustacean post larvae and fish fry by a hatchery industry valued at more than USD 2 billion and the final production of over 10 million tonnes of high-value aquaculture species. With approximately 90 percent of the current Artemia production harvested from inland salt lakes, the future of the hatchery industry could be at risk and requires urgent attention. The workshop explored needs and opportunities for a new international initiative to guarantee a more sustainable provision of Artemia, both from farmed and natural sources.

The goal of the webinar was to document differences in practices used by fish and crustacean hatcheries in the use of Artemia cysts for the preparation of live feeds. Over time, the practices used by hatcheries in Asia, Europe and Latin America have diverged from the good aquaculture practices for Artemia production recommended by FAO in the 1996 Live Food Manual. The technical programme included presentations from twelve speakers from around the world, with an introduction from the Director General of NACA, Huang Jie. The webinar was attended by 359 people from 53 countries. Video recordings of the technical presentations are enclosed, together with the report of the proceedings.

The International Workshop on Artemia Pond and Tank Production was held via Zoom / in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on 15 June 2021. A video recording of the presentations is enclosed and the report of the meeting is available for download.

To launch the new International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium, led by Patrick Sorgeloos, this conference series brings together professionals working on Artemia from all around the world. This event was a presentation on the world of Artemia for Saxon Bosworth, who was researching Artemia for an article for National Geographic. A video recording of the presentations is enclosed.