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Show companies permitted to harvest brine shrimp on GSL ( Bath, 1998). Brine shrimp cysts harvested from GSL provide a significant but declining proportion of the world's supply of cysts used for feeds for aquaculture and ornamental fish ( Leonard, 1999). That market share has diminished because of recent low harvests from the lake. GSL cysts are known for their consistency, small nauplii ( the young brine shrimp), low contamination and competitive price. The majority of cysts sold ( 80 percent) are used in Thailand, China, Indonesia and Ecuador in panaeid shrimp hatcheries. Panaeid shrimp are those cultivated for human consumption. The rest are consumed in shrimp operations in other parts of the world as well as by marine finfish, primarily in Europe, Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan ( Newman, 1998). The following chart denotes harvesting trends from the 1985- 1986 harvest season to the 1997- 1998 harvest season. The harvest numbers are as reported by the harvest companies to DWR. ( See Figure 15.) During the high waters years of the 1980s, harvesting occurred in the north arm. At that time, it was dilute enough to support brine shrimp. Note that many variables influence the total number of pounds harvested. These variables include ( 1) legal harvest season rules; ( 2) number of harvesters; ( 3) shrimp populations; ( 4) market demand; ( 5) processing, selling and inventory needs; and ( 6) area of the lake being harvested ( Perschon, 1998). Table 10. Harvest Year # Of Companies # of Certificates of Registration ( COR) Total Harvest ( lbs:)* 1985- 1986 4 298,035 1986- 1987 4 1,887,300 1987- 1988 4 7,012,775 1988- 1989 9 6,806,415 1989- 1990 12 10,268,232 1990- 1991 11 8,927,818 1991- 1992 11 26 13,532,797 1992- 1993 12 20 10,172,399 1993- 1994 12 18 8,864,092 1994- 1995 14 25 6,485,954 1995- 1996 21 63 14,749,596 1996- 1997 32 79 14,679,498 1997- 1998 32 79 6,113,695 1998- 1999 32 79 4,606,352 * Denotes the total pounds ( unprocessed) of biomass harvested that year as reported to DWR. ( Biomass includes cysts, cyst shells, shrimp, brine fly pupal chambers, algae, etc.) ( Perschon, 1998). 148 |