Dedicated fish breeders have long known that the newly hatched nauplii (larvae) of Artemia salina (brine shrimp) are a perfect food for small and newly hatched fish, providing essential proteins, fatty acids, carbohydrates and carotenoids in an easily eaten, moving prey package.
Brine shrimp eggs are easy to hatch; the nauplii are simple to feed. Although hatching devices take many forms, all utilize nothing more than salt, water, and an airstone. The results have proven worth the effort in healthier, faster growing fish.
However, brine shrimp eggs are subject to the economic law of supply and demand.
Due to a worldwide boom in commercial aquaculture and several years of poor harvests, prices have risen sharply. Most (but not all) brine shrimp eggs are harvested from Utah’s Great Salt Lake, where more than 13,000,000 pounds were harvested in 1991. In 1996, the take was less than half that. Part of the drop was due to changing conditions in the lake, which resulted in the birth of live young by the shrimp, rather than deposition of cysts (eggs), but part of the decline may also have been due to overfishing: the number of licensed boats numbered less than a dozen in the early 1990s; by 1996 the number had topped 60.
The result has been a rapidly escalating price spiral. Fortunately, when stored properly in a cool, dry, dark place, brine shrimp eggs will last for years, and although commercial hatcheries may need to pay close attention to the guaranteed hatching rates, this is less of a factor for the hobbyist. So if you find a supply of brine shrimp eggs at a reasonable price, you might want to stock up.
Reference: Davis, Chuck. “Brine Shrimp,” Aquarium Fish Magazine, April 1998.
— G.C.K.A. Newsletter, Sept/Oct 1998