BSD News

May 20, 2008

Shortage of Higher Grades Expected

Our view of current inventories in and around the Salt Lake Valley leads us to conclude that there will be a general absence of 90% product in the market for the remainder of the year. Limited quantities of 80% product have largely been allocated. Price increases will staunch the flow of remaining inventory from warehouses and buyers may have to rely on 70% product to control costs.  

April 15, 2008

Optimism for Better 2007-2008 Harvest Over

Early optimism regarding the quantity and quality of the 2007-08 Great Salt Lake brine shrimp harvest yielded to pessimism in March of this year as early test results on various lots indicated lower hatch-out rates than anticipated.

Feb. 01, 2007

Harvest Results a Mixed Bag

The 2006-07 Great Salt Lake brine shrimp harvest has drawn to a close. For all companies reporting, the raw harvest as of Jan. 24th was 16,630,366 pounds. This quantity compares favorably with last year's harvest of 9,484,047 lbs. and is slightly higher than the average annual harvest of 15.6 million pounds (extracted from data collected from 2000 to 2005).

Now that the raw numbers are in, cyst quality from this year's harvest is the overriding concern for brine shrimp harvesters, suppliers and end-users alike. With a limited amount of premium grade cysts from previous harvests currently in inventory, producers are understandably anxious to assess the quality of this latest harvest. Some early results obtained from newly harvested and processed egg point to troubling signs. The consensus from a number of producers have three things in common: low finish weight yield from raw pounds due to higher than normal amounts of shell; lower hatching efficiencies (% hatch-out); and questionable stability at ambient temperature.

A high amount of shell could effectively lower the harvest yield to well below the five year average. Recovery of a dry, finished product from a wet pound of egg harvested off the water is generally around 30%. Due to inordinate amounts of shell this year, processing is resulting in yields of 15% or lower. One theory holds that relatively benign temperatures in December caused an early hatch of cysts that would have ordinarily remained in diapause until Spring.

The erratic weather may also have affected the viability and stability of the egg. There seems to be a higher percentage of cracked egg and a general shift in quality toward the lower end of the spectrum. Although its too early to predict with any degree of certainty, long time observers acknowledge that this year's egg will not be up to par.

Fortunately, most end-users, distributors and producers have become accustomed to keeping egg in refrigeration or at freezing temperatures for long term storage and viability. It appears that the new product will exhibit even greater sensitivity to high temperature, underscoring the need to keep egg transit times short and storage temperatures low.

Although to date there have only been a small number of test batches of egg processed and tested, it seems that the industry is predisposed at this point to lowering market expectations for both quality and price relief in the coming months.

Jan. 20, 2007

The Big Stink

Brine shrimp are arguably one of nature's most defenseless creatures. They are obliged to occupy the planet's most inhospitable bodies of water in order to avoid annihilation by finned predators. In spite of hiding in their briny outposts devoid of fish, brine shrimp have not escaped the attention of man, who (I confess) fishes them with a vengeance to satisfy the appetite of the aquaculture industry. So it is with a certain pleasure that is reserved for the underdog when he/she strikes a blow against the Man, that I regurgitate a story from the Dec. 30th, 2006 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune.

A Trib reporter indicated that a number of people in the Salt Lake City area recently became nauseous from a foul stench wafting through town. Suspecting a gas leak or broken sewer main, the populace sprang into action. Questar, the local utility received a number of calls and responded by sending out sniffer trucks to identify the source of the leak. Not much was found and, though a widespread panic did not ensue thanks to the calming influence of old timers in the valley, a rotten egg odor produced unease.

The Mystery Explained - Occasionally when the wind blows from the northwest, it sometimes carries more than a ribald song from a lonely brine shrimper posted out on the Great Salt Lake. Every winter for hundreds of years, brine shrimp have spawned, died and fallen out of suspension. And every winter, millions of pounds of tiny carcasses literally pile up in the shallows and slowly become part of the primordial ooze - a black, bilious mud that will suck your boots off - and when disturbed produces a plume of hydrogen sulfide gas.

Recently, this capricious mixture of northwest winds and a rich, rolling anaerobic stew from below the surface of the Great Salt Lake created what was described as an "environmental belch," releasing a cloud of gas that menacingly hung over valley residents. Chemistry, yes. But for those searching for a karmic balance, we can also think of it as a calling card from our defenseless denizen of the Salt Lake, an underappreciated and generally unnoticed part of Utah's natural mosaic.

Oct. 27, 2006

Harvest Update

The 2006-2007 Brine Shrimp harvest season is in progress. Harvest numbers recently released by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources presage a better season than last in terms of the number of pounds harvested.

The quality of the egg is, as yet, unknown. Earlier reports from harvesters noted a higher percentage than normal of empty shell and cracked cysts, though a change in weather conditions in recent weeks has improved our outlook for quality.

For all companies reporting as of October 27, 2006, the total number of pounds in gross wet weight are as follows:

18 January 2004

Close of the 2003-2004 Brine Shrimp Harvest Season Announced

The 2003-2004 harvest of brine shrimp egg (artemia cysts) is drawing to a close. The majority of brine shrimp companies had already sharply curtailed harvest operations earlier in the season due to poor yields and/or unfavorable weather.

Moreover, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) has imposed a "temporary suspension" on the South Arm of the lake in order to evaluate the population of cysts remaining in the water column.

Thus far, 4,984,244 lbs. of raw catch have been reported. This is a "wet weight" figure and represents cysts, biomass, algae, detritus, sand, etc. The final yield of dry cysts is projected to be about 997,000 lbs. To put this in perspective, last season's record harvest netted 25,729,490 lbs. of raw catch, yielding approximately 5,000,000 lbs. of dry cysts.

Last year, the season closed on January 24, after state biologists determined that additional harvesting of cysts would negatively impact the viability of the artemia population.

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