Artemia production in desalination brine water

Abstract

Methods are provided offering essential parameters to grow Artemia in evaporation ponds that use desalination brine water. It helps to provide an alternative solution to increase Artemia egg and biomass production, decrease the environmental impacts of the brine water, and reduce the cost of evaporation ponds.

Description

[0001] ARTEMIA PRODUCTION IN DESALINATION BRINE WATER

[0002] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] This invention relates to methods of rearing Artemia (brine shrimp) in desalination brine water.

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Over the last decades, the aquaculture industry expanded to support human food needs of an increasing global population. Increasing aquaculture production is one food industry that satisfies the rising population's needs.

[0006] Now the aquaculture sector unfortunately has a high mortality rate during the early larval stages because there aren't enough adequate fish larval food sources. Artemia is essential to the aquaculture sector as it serves as the primary provider of nourishment for fish larvae. Brine shrimp stands out for its small size, food carrier trait, and off-the-shelf food feature. Artemia (brine shrimp) is a euryhaline organism that can grow in seawater or other high-water salinities.

[0007] However, with the Artemia provision being critical in aquaculture, the global supply of Artemia eggs is insufficient to satisfy the increasing demand for aquaculture. Climate change effects influenced many Artemia egg production farms. Accordingly, other Artemia exploitations have been explored by harvesting firms worldwide. Despite these explorations, more measures could and should be taken to meet aquaculture's demands for Artemia eggs.

[0008] Most ponds used for Artemia egg production are natural salt lakes or saltworks. With climate i change, these ponds are affected by a change in snow melt which decreases the water salinity and a shortened rainy season, which both shortens the Artemia production period.

[0009] Water scarcity due to global warming led many countries to seek other solutions to provide freshwater sources. One of those ideas was seawater or brackish water desalination. Saline water desalination produces two outputs: freshwater and brine water with higher salinity. The disposing of brine water in oceans is one of the conventional methods to discard of brine water, even though the high salinity of the brine water has an adverse influence on coastal biodiversity and fisheries and results in the loss of marine species, like corals, fish, and seaweeds.

[0010] One of the main challenges in desalination is the safe release of brine water. Other methods of disposing of brine water discharge include injection into deep wells, land application, or concentration of brine water in evaporation ponds. Evaporation ponds can be an environmentally friendly solution, although they consume time and costs to evaporate the water.

[0011] So at a time when many Artemia production ponds are affected by climate change, water salinity is decreasing in these ponds. The present invention addresses these concerns and issues and explores new resources and methods to produce Artemia eggs or Artemia biomass. The present invention focuses on the use of desalination brine water.

[0012] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] In one embodiment, hatched Artemia cysts are necessary nutritious feed for fish and shrimp larvae in their early life stages, decreasing their mortality percentage. Artemia is a euryhaline organism that lives in high-saline water to produce its eggs. Artemia is usually grown in saltworks and ponds of evaporated seawater with high salinity. In one embodiment of the invention, the method uses the brine water discarded from the desalination plants with high salinity to grow Artemia.

[0014] As mentioned, Artemia needs high water salinity to grow. The brine water discarded from the desalination stations has high salt concentrations. Most artificial Artemia production ponds depend mainly on the evaporation of the seawater in these ponds to reach a higher salinity or use the saltworks to produce Artemia beside the salts. The conclusion is that desalination brine water will be suitable for growing Artemia. Hence, using brine water will generate the proper salinity media / ponds more efficiently, time- and effort-wise, compared to the common evaporation practice of seawater till the desired salinity, which will ultimately enhance Artemia's productivity, accelerate the production cycle and minimize operating costs.

[0015] It is also noticeable that using brine water from desalination facilities will solve core environmental issues. Firstly, it is a safe disposal method to mitigate critical environmental hazards such as loss of coastal biodiversity due to the high salinity of brine water, saltwater intrusion, and soil degradation, all of which result in accelerating detrimental climate change impacts. Secondly, it presents a more economically viable, environmentally green, and safer path for desalination plants to discharge brine. Finally, it will decrease the time needed to evaporate the seawater to reach the required high salinity to grow Artemia in conventional Artemia ponds.

[0016] In another embodiment, a method for growing Artemia is provided. The method includes the steps of: (a) growing Hatching Artemia in desalination brine water discarded from a desalination facility, wherein the desalination brine water has a salinity range of 50-80g / L;

[0017] (b) maintaining a stocking density of Artemia nauplii is about 100-200 nauplii / L in the desalination brine water; and

[0018] (c) maintaining an oxygen level of 2 mg / L to 4 mg / L in the desalination brine water.

[0019] The method further uses a net sieve with a mesh size of 53 pm to 63 pm to filter a feed suspension for the Artemia.

[0020] In yet another embodiment, the present invention is a method to cultivate Artemia using brine water since no prior efforts have been invested to validate the cultivation of Artemia using brine effluents from desalination plants. For this reason, several trials have been conducted to validate the technical methodology to achieve this purpose. The water quality conditions, specifically the salinity level, have been determined using more efficient food for active live Artemia.

[0021] It is also noticeable that using brine water from desalination facilities will solve core environmental issues. Firstly, it is a safe disposal method to mitigate critical environmental hazards such as loss of coastal biodiversity due to the high salinity of brine water, which results in accelerating detrimental climate change impacts. Secondly, it presents a more economically viable, environmentally green, and safer path for desalination plants to discharge brine. Finally, it will decrease the time needed to evaporate the seawater to reach the required high salinity to grow Artemia in conventional Artemia ponds.

[0022] In still another embodiment, a method of growing Artemia in desalination brine water discarded from a desalination facility is provided, where the desalination brine water has a salinity range of 50-80g / L: a) Artemia cysts (eggs) should be hatched using seawater or desalination brine water with a salinity of 35-38 g / L in conical-shaped containers. a. At a temperature range of 25-30 °C. b. The pH should be 7.5-9 c. Under the illumination of 2000- 2200 lux at the water's surface d. Using strong aeration to keep the cyst moving inside the tank, where the dissolved oxygen is about 9 mg / L. e. The cyst density should be 1-6 g / L. b) Harvesting of hatched Artemia nauplii will take place after 24-48 hrs. a. The aeration will be stopped for 5-10 minutes till the empty cyst shells float on the water surface and the unhatched cysts and other debris settle down at the bottom. b. The conical-shaped hatching tank will be covered, and a lamp will be put outside the bottom of the tank where live nauplii will attract the lamp's light. c. The floating cyst shells will be removed. d. The down outlet will be opened and closed quickly to eliminate the unhatched Artemia and other debris. e. Then the outlet will be opened again in a small tank filled with desalination brine water, having a net sieve of 60 pm to filter the live nauplii. c) Live nauplii will be rinsed with water and put in plastic bags with desalination brine water until they reach ponds. d) Artemia pond will be divided into small ponds. e) The pond can be 30-100 cm depth. f) The ponds are stocked with desalination brine water discarded from the desalination facility, wherein the desalination brine water has a salinity range of 50-80 g / L with the specification of (pH 7.00 -7.50; EC: 63- 64 dS / m, Ca++: 740, Mg++: 1,330-1,332, Na+: 12,535, K+: 491- 492, CO3: 0.00, HCO3: 1,220, Cl’: 23,900 -24,000, SO4: 556 - 557, Fe: 0.03, Zn: 0.01, Mn: 0.02, Cu: 0.01, SAR: 63 - 64). g) Maintaining the stocking density of Artemia nauplii in a range of 100-200 nauplii / L in the desalination brine water. a. If the Artemia nauplii are incubated in the ponds, the newly hatched nauplii incubation time should be between 7-9 am or 4-7 pm. b. The Artemia nauplii should be distributed all over the ponds. c. Their density should be checked on the following day by sampling. h) The oxygen level should be kept at 2 mg / L to 4 mg / L in the desalination brine water without water disruption. a. Stopping the air for 1-2 hours, maximum daily, in combination with the highest salinity of more than 80 g / 1, will lead to more cyst production than young live nauplii. The previous factors will lead the Artemia to reproduce in an oviparous mode, where it can produce eggs, rather than an ovoviviparous one, producing live nauplii. i) The water level should not be shallow during the growing season to decrease the impact of high temperatures on Artemia. j) Both rice bran and spirulina alga can be used as feed for Artemia, which has essential nutrient contents (see Tables A and B). a. Both feed types should be soaked and mixed for 2-12 hours in seawater or soaked for 24 hours if the room temperature is about 20 °C. b. A net sieve with a mesh size of 63 pm should filter the resulting suspension. k) The feeding strategy depends on the growing ponds. a. 1 drop of feed suspension can feed one individual adult Artemia (see K). b. On the other hand, in big ponds, the usage of a Secchi-disc will be more practical, see Figure 12, Appendix A. If the Secchi disc can be seen through the water transparency, more feed will be added until the length of the holding rope of the disc is 20 cm. The feed should be stopped if the disc cannot be seen at a depth of 20 cm. l) Artemia reaches adulthood after 12-15 days, starting the reproduction outputs from 15-20 days. Thus, 2 to 3 weeks after stocking, the early cysts start floating at the water's surface. a. The cysts are stuck in the foam that forms when there are strong winds, particularly in the afternoon, and are lost in the foam. Wave breakers (or any material to save the cysts from winds) are installed at the end of each pond in the wind direction to keep the Artemia eggs away from the foam formed by the wind. b. Artemia cysts or biomass can be harvested every three days after the reproduction starts. m) A double-screen trap is used to harvest cysts. a. At the top is a 1 mm trap to keep adult biomass and big waste, and b. At the bottom is a 106 pm net to keep cysts and other tiny debris in place. c. The cysts in the 106 pm trap are cleaned and rinsed with pond water. d. Water is squeezed out, and the cyst paste is transferred to a cyst storage tank in a secure area next to the Artemia ponds. e. 300 g / L of saturated salt is put in the cyst storage tank to dehydrate all cysts till they reach the processing place. n) After harvesting Artemia, some debris, sand, and salts are mixed with the cysts. a. Artemia cysts will be washed and filtered through a mesh size net of 5000, 1000, and 100 pm, respectively, in the desalination brine water. b. In a conical tank of fresh water, the empty cysts will float on the water's surface, and the full cysts will settle down at the bottom. c. Artemia full cysts will be collected from the tank's outlet and squeezed through a 100 pm net. d. An oven with a temperature of 32 °C for two days is used to dry Artemia cysts over the 100 pm net and then packed in airtight bags or containers.

[0023] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] FIG. 1 shows according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention water analysis of seawater and brine water.

[0025] FIG. 2 shows according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention the number of offspring per female of Artemia franciscana grown in different water salinities, fed with rice bran.

[0026] FIG. 3 shows according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention the % offspring encysted produced by Artemia franciscana individuals cultivated in the different water salinities fed on the rice bran particles.

[0027] FIG. 4 shows according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention the number of offspring per female of Artemia franciscana grown in different water salinities, fed with spirulina.

[0028] FIG. 5 shows according to an exemplary embodiment of the inventio the % offspring encysted produced by Artemia franciscana individuals cultivated in the different water salinities fed on the spirulina particles.

[0029] FIG. 6 shows according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention a comparison between % offspring encysted of Artemia franciscana that fed on rice bran and spirulina and reared in various water salinities.

[0030] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] Embodiments of the invention offer essential parameters to grow Artemia in evaporation ponds that use desalination brine water. It helps to provide an alternative solution to increase Artemia egg and biomass production, decrease the environmental impacts of the brine water, and reduce the cost of evaporation ponds.

[0032] In one embodiment, according to the method, the Artemia pond could be divided into small ponds. The pond or the container can be at a depth of 10-100 cm. The ponds or containers are stocked with desalination brine water discarded from the desalination facility with a salinity range of 50-80g / L.

[0033] Artemia cysts (eggs) should be hatched to be incubated in these ponds or containers using seawater salinity in conical containers at a temperature range of 25-30 °C. The pH should be 7.5- 9 under the illumination of around 2200 lux at the water's surface using strong aeration to keep the cyst moving inside the tank, where the dissolved oxygen is about 9 mg / L [How is this different from keeping an oxygen level of 2-5 mg / L. The cyst density should be 1-6 g / L. Harvesting of hatched Artemia nauplii will take place after 24-48 hrs. The aeration will be stopped for 5-10 minutes till the empty cyst shells float on the water surface and the unhatched cysts and other debris settle down at the bottom. The hatching tank will be covered, and a lamp will be put outside the bottom of the tank where live nauplii will attract to the lamp's light. The floating cyst shells will be removed. The down outlet will be opened and closed quickly to eliminate the unhatched Artemia and other debris. Then the outlet will be opened again in a small tank filled with seawater, having a net sieve of 60 gm to filter the live nauplii. Then, the live nauplii will be rinsed with water and put in plastic bags with seawater till they reach the growing tanks or ponds.

[0034] The stocking density of Artemia nauplii is about 100-200 nauplii / L. If the Artemia nauplii are incubated in the ponds, the newly hatched nauplii incubation time should be between 7-9 am or 4-7 pm. The Artemia nauplii should be spread all over the ponds. Their density should be checked on the following day by sampling.

[0035] The Artemia container or pond should be filled with brine water of salinity of more than 70 g / L. Increasing the salinity to this range will prevent harmful organisms from living in the pond. The oxygen level should be kept at 2-5 mg / L. Stopping the air for 2 hours, maximum daily, in combination with the highest salinity of more than 80 g / 1, will lead to more cyst production than young live nauplii. The previous factors will lead the Artemia to reproduce in an oviparous mode, where it can produce eggs, rather than an ovoviviparous one, producing live nauplii.

[0036] The water level should not be shallow during the growing season to decrease the impact of high temperatures on Artemia. Both rice bran and spirulina alga can be used as feed for Artemia, which has essential nutrient contents (see Tables A and B). Both feed types should be soaked and mixed for one day in seawater or soaked for three days if the room temperature is about 20 °C. A net sieve with a mesh size of 63 gm should filter the resulting suspension.

[0037] The feeding strategy depends on the growing containers. 5 drops of feed suspension can feed five individual adults Artemia in the small tanks. On the other hand, in ponds, the usage of a Secchi-disc will be more practical, see Figure 12, Appendix A. If the Secchi disc can be seen through the water transparency, more feed will be added until the length of the holding rope of the disc is 20 cm. The feed should be stopped if the disc cannot be seen at 20 cm depth.

[0038] Table A - the main components of the rice bran feed

[0039] Table B - The main components of spirulina feed

[0040] Artemia reaches adulthood after 12-15 days, starting the reproduction outputs from 15-20 days. Thus, 2 to 3 weeks after stocking, the early cysts start floating at the water's surface. The cysts are stuck in the foam that forms when there are strong winds, particularly in the afternoon, and are lost in the foam. Wave breakers (or any material to save the cysts from winds) are installed at the end of each pond in the wind direction to keep the Artemia eggs away from the foam formed by the wind. The Artemia cysts or biomass can be harvested every three days after the reproduction starts.

[0041] A double-screen trap is used to harvest cysts. At the top is a 1 mm mesh to keep adult biomass and big waste, and at the bottom is a 106 pm net to keep cysts and other tiny debris in place. The cysts in the 106 pm trap are cleaned and rinsed with pond water. Water is squeezed out, and the cyst paste is transferred to a cyst storage tank in a secure area next to the Artemia ponds. 300 g / L of saturated salt is put in the cyst storage tank to dehydrate all cysts till they reach the processing place.

[0042] After harvesting Artemia, some debris, sand, and salts are mixed with the cysts. Artemia cysts will be washed and filtered through a mesh size net of 5000, 1000, and 100 pm, respectively, in brine water. In a conical tank of fresh water, the empty cysts will float on the water's surface, and the full cysts will settle down at the bottom. Artemia full cysts will be collected from the tank's outlet and squeezed through a 100 pm net. An oven with a temperature of 32 °C for two days is used to dry Artemia cysts over the 100 pm net and then packed in airtight bags or containers.

[0043] In another embodiment, according to the method, Artemia cysts (eggs) should be hatched to be incubated in these ponds using seawater or desalination brine water with a salinity of 35-38 g / L in conical-shaped containers at a temperature range of 25-30 °C. The pH should be 7.5-9 under the illumination of 2000- 2200 lux at the water's surface using strong aeration to keep the cyst moving inside the tank, where the dissolved oxygen is about 9 mg / L. The cyst density should be 1-6 g / L. Harvesting of hatched Artemia nauplii will take place after 24-48 hrs. The aeration will be stopped for 5-10 minutes till the empty cyst shells float on the water surface and the unhatched cysts and other debris settle down at the bottom. The hatching tank will be covered, and a lamp will be put outside the bottom of the tank where live nauplii will attract to the lamp's light. The floating cyst shells will be removed. The down outlet will be opened and closed quickly to eliminate the unhatched Artemia and other debris. Then, the outlet will be opened again in a small tank filled with desalination brine water, having a net sieve of 60 pm to filter the live nauplii. Then the live nauplii will then be rinsed with water and put in plastic bags with desalination brine water until they reach the ponds.

[0044] Artemia pond will be divided into small ponds. The pond can be at a 30-100 cm depth. The ponds are stocked with desalination brine water discarded from the desalination facility wherein the desalination brine water has a salinity range of 50-80 g / L with the specification of (pH 7.00 - 7.50; EC: 63- 64 dS / m, Ca++: 740, Mg++: 1,330-1,332, Na+: 12,535, K+: 491- 492, CO3: 0.00, HCO3: 1,220, Cl’: 23,900 -24,000, SO4: 556 - 557, Fe: 0.03, Zn: 0.01, Mn: 0.02, Cu: 0.01, SAR: 63 - 64).

[0045] Maintaining the stocking density of Artemia nauplii in a range of 100-200 nauplii / L in the desalination brine water. If the Artemia nauplii are incubated in the ponds, the newly hatched nauplii incubation time should be between 7-9 am or 4-7 pm. The Artemia nauplii should be spread all over the ponds. Their density should be checked on the following day by sampling. The oxygen level should be kept at 2 mg / L to 4 mg / L in the desalination brine water without water disruption. Stopping the air for 2 hours, maximum daily, in combination with the highest salinity of more than 80 g / 1, will lead to more cyst production than young live nauplii. The previous factors will lead the Artemia to reproduce in an oviparous mode, where it can produce eggs, rather than an ovoviviparous one, producing live nauplii.

[0046] Notes

[0047] Larval rearing of aquaculture organisms faces the challenge of providing high quality and sufficient amounts of cysts of the brine shrimp Artemia, tiny crustaceans living in natural hypersaline lakes, and solar saltworks. Artemia is extensively used for feeding marine and freshwater fish larvae using non-hatched decapsulated cysts, fresh nauplii, or nauplii enriched with highly unsaturated fatty acids and vitamins. They use Artemia nauplii to provide fish larvae, improve fish growth and development, and reduce mortality. Artemia is a credible supply of essential nutrients and enzymes from which tiny fish larvae can derive their growth and development needs and enzymes that cannot synthesize effectively by the fish itself. Production of Artemia cysts has a vital role in aquaculture by providing an essential feed for the fish larvae in the first critical stages of the fish life cycle. Thus, feeding on Artemia nauplii decrease the mortality rates of the fish larvae in their early stages.

[0048] Water scarcity is one of the main challenges in many countries' current and future eras. Consequently, many countries, such as the MENA region, use desalination plants to desalinate seawater or brackish water to get freshwater. The number of desalination facilities has been increasing; thus, the second output, which is the brine water with high salinity increased as well. The brine water is usually discharged in un-environmentally friendly ways that harm the coastal biodiversity and fisheries, mortality of marine organisms like corals and seaweeds, and other environmental disasters. Evaporation ponds of the brine water to decrease their volume is one of the proposed solutions; however, it needs time and cost to reduce the amount of the brine water. Artemia is distinguished by its ability to live in hypersaline environments; growing Artemia in brine water that is characterized by its high salinity will solve the issue of discarding the massive volume of brine water and its adverse impacts on marine life organisms.

[0049] Artemia has distinguished by its short generation period, reaching maturity in 8 days or less than 20 days after roughly 15 molts. Of up to 250 embryos per brood, fecundity concentrations are seen in Artemia females (maximum of 20 broods per lifetime) (Camara, 2020). They reproduce by oviparous mode (production of encysted dormant embryos) and ovoviviparous mode (direct generation of free-living nauplii). The results of this invention of generating Artemia cysts and young Artemia (live biomass) in brine water are similar to the production of Artemia in seawater ponds in other countries.

[0050] The request for Artemia cysts as a safe source of nutrients and enzymes has steadily increased due to the aquaculture development in the late 1970s. The production raised from a few tons to about 3000 metric tons yearly. Many harvesting companies established other Artemia growing production facilities over the globe. Growing Artemia needs large-scale open ponds of seawater or evaporated seawater with higher salinity. The global production of Artemia cysts is still insufficient to fulfill the demand for fish farms worldwide, while many fish farms in Egypt, the MENA region, and worldwide depend on imported Artemia cysts in their shrimp and fish hatcheries and farms. However, no existing company in Egypt or the MENA region produces and exports Artemia cysts. Inventors’ intervention has successfully locally produced Artemia (brine shrimp) and Artemia cysts in hypersaline media.

[0051] Artemia was reared in brine water, which is produced from desalination plants. As we know, no one has previously experimented with rearing Artemia in desalination brine (50-80 g / L). The intervention's key distinguishable metrics include the incubation density of Artemia in ponds, the inputs of Artemia feed, the feeding rate of the Artemia, the water levels in the ponds, the oxygenation management in Artemia ponds, controlling the reproduction method, and the drying and packaging of Artemia cysts.

[0052] More Artemia cysts are required worldwide as the aquaculture industry has expanded in the last 50 years. Egypt fish hatcheries are one of the farms that suffer from the low amounts of Artemia cysts that are not produced in Egypt due to the lack of viable commercialization. Consequently, producing Artemia cysts in Egypt will provide an alternative local source for an expensive imported product in Egypt and the MENA region, directly benefiting the local economy and serving Egypt's and the region's aquaculture industry.

[0053] Another outstanding contribution is providing a safety management approach to the desalination brine water (high saline water produced after seawater desalination). The traditional methods of discharge of the brine water cause harmful impacts to oceans, lands, and the environment. Our project manages the brine water in an environmentally-friendly and economically feasible way. Advantages

[0054] • Providing a local source of Artemia cysts in Egypt and the MENA region rather than importing.

[0055] • Enhancing the aquaculture industry in Egypt and the MENA region resulting in achieving food security.

[0056] • Realizing environmental and economic benefits to desalination plants by innovative brine water management.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method of growing Artemia, comprising:(a) growing Artemia in desalination brine water discarded from a desalination facility, wherein the desalination brine water has a salinity range of 50-80g / L;(b) maintaining a stocking density of Artemia nauplii is about 100-200 nauplii / L in the desalination brine water; and(c) maintaining an oxygen level of 2 mg / L to 4 mg / L in the desalination brine water.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising using a net sieve with a mesh size of 53 pm to 63 pm to filter a feed suspension for the Artemia.

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