Brine-shrimp harvest brings in big bucks

In a landlocked state 600 miles from the nearest ocean, fleets of commercial fishermen compete for a creature that in spite of its minuscule size makes for quite a fish tale.

Brine shrimp, or artemia, are one of the few organisms that can live in Utah's Great Salt Lake, which has a salt content as much as five times that of the ocean. The tiny creatures — which resemble feathery, nearly transparent bugs pulsating in the water — grow to less than a half-inch in length as adults. Under perfect conditions, an adult female can live as long as three months and produce as many as 300 tiny eggs — 50 can fit on the head of a pin — every four days.

It's this bounty of eggs that prompts nearly two dozen companies to fork over $10,000 for each permit to skim brine shrimp eggs from the surface of the lake from October through January.

Brine shrimp eggs are used to feed nearly all table shrimp sold throughout the world. They also are used as food for other farmed fish, crabs and exotic fish in aquariums. And countless children likely have been disappointed over the years after ordering "magical sea monkeys" from the back of comic books to find that brine shrimp don't look like monkeys and don't wear crowns on their heads.

For about four months, or until the State Division of Wildlife Resources closes the harvest season, 22 companies vie for position on the lake. Brine shrimp eggs float to the surface of the lake in streaks. Planes spot the eggs from overhead, radioing locations to the boats, most of which leave from the marina at Antelope Island State Park.

That $10,000 license buys the right to place one marker buoy. When a boat places a buoy, it's unlawful for another boat to come within 300 yards, said Clay Perschon, program manager for the division's Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Project. There are 79 licenses available.

The availability of eggs on the lake varies greatly from year to year, Perschon said. Specific lake and weather conditions need to occur for the eggs to float to the surface. When lake, weather and eggs cooperate, the companies must act quickly, and that means heavy competition.

If there are arguments over these floating exclusivity rights, the wildlife resources division is called in.

"Over the years they've rammed their boats into each other. They've assaulted each other," Perschon said. "It's like most things in life. It's competitive."