Prospects for the industrial development of the stocks of the Artemia parthenogenetica Barigozzi, 1974 (Branchiopoda, Anostraca) cysts in the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay (the Caspian sea)

Abstract

The Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay has a high natural potential for cysts of the brine shrimp Artemia parthenogenetica, which can be used in various areas of the national economy. Commercial fishing of the Artemia population of Kara-Bogaz- Gol Bay began in the mid-1990s. As a result, a new potential of the bioresource of cysts on the international market was discovered. Since 2000, there has been a sharp decline in the breeding stock of the Artemia population in the Kara-Bogaz- Gol Bay. By 2002, commercial fishing of Artemia cysts in Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay was stopped, due to the fact that the brine shrimp population was in a depressed. The main reason was the increase in the salinity of the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay due to the accumulation of brine in the strait connecting the Caspian Sea with bay, which prevented the flow of Caspian water into the bay, in volumes sufficient to maintain the salt balance in the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay at the optimal level for the development of the Artemia population. Since 2020, there has been a decrease in the level of the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay, which continues at the present time. Satellite data show that there are minor accumulations of algae and Artemia cysts in the bay. Minor accumulations of brine shrimp cysts in the bay can be used as a starting potential necessary for inoculation work, after resolving the issue of maintaining the salt balance in the reservoir at a level sufficient for the development of the nutrition of Artemia and its reproduction in natural conditions. To revive the Artemia cysts fishery, a set of measures aimed at improving the hydrological and ecological regimes of the bay has been proposed.