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Show BIOMASS HARVESTED FROM GSL & Utah Division of Wildlife Resources 85- 86 87- 88 89- 90 91- 92 93- 94 95- 96 97- 98 HARVEST YEAR Figure 15 ( Source: DWR) " If the shrimps could be caught and preserved in quantity, I doubt not they would soon be classed as an epicurean delicacy" ( Talmage, 1900). Although this prediction from James E. Talmage in 1900 did not turn out to be true for humans, brine shrimp have become an important food for aquacultured animals. Because brine shrimp cysts are sold primarily as a food source for aquaculture, it is important to note trends in the aquaculture industry as they directly affect the demand for cysts. The global production offish, crustaceans and molluscs equaled 18.5 million metric tons in 1994, a figure 140 percent higher than the 1985 total. Asian production is the dominant proportion of global aquaculture production. The total value of all global aquaculture products in 1994 exceeded U. S. $ 33.5 billion ( New, 1997). As mentioned previously, the majority of brine shrimp cysts are sold to panaeid shrimp hatcheries. Panaeid shrimp can be aquacultured in either inland or marine environments ( Perschon, 1998). Production of farmed marine shrimp increased by 332 percent from 1985 to 1994. Although output from freshwater crustacean culture only expanded by a factor of 1.5 from 1985 to 1994, production from freshwater prawn culture expanded by 252 percent ( New, 1997). Value of Production A total of 109,798,606 pounds of biomass were harvested from GSL between 1985- 98. In the 1997- 98 harvest season, 6,113,695 pounds of biomass were harvested by 32 companies that hold 79 certificates of registration ( CORs). DWR charges a registration fee of $ 10,000 per COR per year. More than one COR can be held by a company, and COR registration ranges from one to nine per company ( Perschon, 1998). As part of implementation of the regulations requiring payment of royalties on brine shrimp harvested, the Utah Tax Commission establishes a unit price for unprocessed brine shrimp eggs harvested during the current season to ascertain a royalty value. In the 1997- 1998 season, the first year the royalty was imposed, the unit price equaled 149 |