ARAL SEA ARTEMIA POPULATION DYNAMICS

PROJECT FUNDING SOURCE:NATO SCIENCE FOR PEACE

PROJECT #980859

Economic and Ecological Benefits from SustainableUse of the Aral Sea Artemia Resource

Prepared by:Kakabay Hankuliev

Aral Artemia Co.&

Brad MardenWeber State University

Specific Objectives of Research

•Document current status of emerging Artemia population•Record Artemia population dynamics•Identify cyst quality characteristics

Commercial Potential of the Aral Sea Artemia Resource

Artemia Research ProgramArtemia Research Program

•• Both East and West Aral SeaBoth East and West Aral Sea•• Sampling locations along Sampling locations along transecttransect•• Five Five transects transects on West Aralon West Aral•• Two Two transects transects on East Aralon East Aral•• 19 sample locations on West Aral19 sample locations on West Aral•• 10 sample locations on East Aral10 sample locations on East Aral•• Vertical plankton net haul (2x/location)Vertical plankton net haul (2x/location)•• Sampling frequency: 1Sampling frequency: 1--2 times/month (April2 times/month (April--November)November)

Sampling Logistics and Equipment

Difficult access causes some modifications in sampling program

East Aral only by ATV. West Aral by truck and ATVLake access by 4-meter

rigid-inflatable vesselFormer sea bed sediments

are highly variableEach ATV expedition = 300

to 500 km.

Expedition conditionsExpedition conditions

•• Poor weatherPoor weather•• Equipment Equipment

failurefailure•• Prolonged Prolonged

delays delays

Akt

Jedeli

Asf

Moinak

Lazarevo

East

EW

JA

Vozrojdeniya

Artemia Biological Assessments:Population structure---Age classes

ReproductionCyst production

Cyst quality and hatching characteristics

Aral sea sampling schedule 2005Aral sea sampling schedule 2005

9West Aral seaSept 15 200510East Aral seaSept 14 200510East Aral seaAug 18 200510West Aral seaAug 16 200510West Aral seaAug 04 200510East Aral seaAug 03 200520West Aral seaJuly 27 200510East Aral seaJuly 21 200510West Aral seaJune 22 200510East Aral seaJune 20 200510West Aral seaJune 11 200510East Aral seaJune 10 20059West Aral seaApril 11 200510East Aral seaApril 09 20059West Aral seaMar 21 200510East Aral seaMar 20 2005

Sample sitesSampling locationExpedition date

East Aral salinity changesEast Aral salinity changes

Aral Sea Salinity

0102030405060708090

100110120130

Mar

20

2005

Apr

il 09

2005

June

10

2005

June

22

2005

July

21

2005

Aug

03

2005

Aug

18

2005

Sept

14

2005

Salin

ity in

PPT

East 0.5 meterEast 2 meterWest 0.5 meter

Aral Sea TemperatureAral Sea Temperature

West Aral Sea Water Temperature

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28

40

24

22

12

1

Dept

h in

Met

ers

Temperature in Centigrade

Aral Sea Surface Temperature

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

20-M

ar

9-A

pr

10-J

un

22-J

un

21-J

ul

3-A

ug

18-A

ug

14-S

ep

Tem

pera

ture

in C

entig

rade

East 0.5 meterEast 2 meterWest 0.5 meter

East Aral Sea Artemia PopulationEast Aral Sea Artemia Population

Artemia Population Dynamics

02468

1012141618

20-M

ar3-A

pr17

-Apr

1-May

15-M

ay29

-May

12-Ju

n26

-Jun

10-Ju

l24

-Jul

7-Aug

21-A

ug4-S

ep

Coun

t per

Lite

r

NaupliiJuvenile

East Aral Sea Artemia PopulationEast Aral Sea Artemia Population

Artemia Population Dynamics

00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.8

20-M

ar

3-A

pr

17-A

pr

1-M

ay

15-M

ay

29-M

ay

12-J

un

26-J

un

10-J

ul

24-J

ul

7-A

ug

21-A

ug

4-Se

p

Coun

t per

Lite

r Juvenilepre-AdultAdult

West Aral Sea Artemia PopulationWest Aral Sea Artemia Population

Artemia Population Dynamics

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

21-M

ar4-A

pr18

-Apr

2-May

16-M

ay30

-May

13-Ju

n27

-Jun

11-Ju

l25

-Jul

8-Aug

22-A

ug5-S

ep

Coun

t per

Lite

r

NaupliiJuvenile

West Aral Sea Artemia PopulationWest Aral Sea Artemia Population

Artemia Population Dynamics

00.020.040.060.080.1

0.120.140.160.180.2

21-M

ar

4-A

pr

18-A

pr

2-M

ay

16-M

ay

30-M

ay

13-J

un

27-J

un

11-J

ul

25-J

ul

8-A

ug

22-A

ug

5-Se

p

Cou

nt p

er L

iter Juvenile

pre-AdultAdult

East Aral female reproductionEast Aral female reproduction

Aral Sea Adult Artemia Abundance

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

21-M

ar

4-A

pr

18-A

pr

2-M

ay

16-M

ay

30-M

ay

13-J

un

27-J

un

11-J

ul

25-J

ul

8-A

ug

22-A

ug

5-Se

p

Cou

nt p

er li

ter West Females

West Gravid Females

East Females

East Gravid Females

Aral Sea Artemia Cyst AbundanceAral Sea Artemia Cyst Abundance

Artemia Cyst Abundance

02468

1012141618

21-M

ar

11-A

pr

11-J

un

22-J

un

27-J

ul

4-A

ug

16-A

ug

15-S

ep

Cou

nt p

er L

iter

EastWest

How Does the Aral Sea Artemia Population Compare to the GSL Artemia Population?

WATER TEMPERATURE AND WATER TEMPERATURE AND POPULATION GROWTHPOPULATION GROWTH

Total Artemia and GSL Water Temperature2001-2003

020406080100120140160

Janu

ary

6,N

ovem

ber

Oct

ober

Sep

tem

ber

Aug

ust 2

0,Ju

ly 2

3,Ju

ne 1

8,M

ay 1

4,A

pril

17,

Mar

ch 1

0,Ja

nuar

yD

ecem

ber

Nov

embe

rO

ctob

er 9

,A

ugus

t 26,

July

24,

June

5,

May

2,

Mar

ch 2

1,Ja

nuar

y 9,

Dec

embe

rO

ctob

erS

epte

mbe

rA

ugus

t 22,

July

17,

June

14,

May

17,

Apr

il 4,

Febr

uary

Dec

embe

r

DATE

Indi

vidu

als

per L

iter

-5.00.05.0

10.015.020.025.030.035.0

Surf

ace

Tem

pera

ture

in

C

Total Artemia/LSurface Temp

ATF DATAATF DATAGSL GSL Population DynamicsPopulation Dynamics

Juvenile, Pre-adult, and Adult Population Trends 2001-2003

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

Num

ber

per

Lite

r

Juveniles

Pre-Adults

Males

Females

Total Adults

ATF RESEARCH ON THE GSLCyst Abundance

CYST/SHELL DYNAMICS1999 to 2003

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

Augu

st 2

5, 1

999

Oct

ober

21,

199

9

April

4, 2

000

July

24,

200

0

Nov

embe

r 3, 2

000

Febr

uary

22,

200

1

April

4, 2

001

May

8, 2

001

June

14,

200

1

July

17,

200

1

Augu

st 2

7, 2

001

Oct

ober

18,

200

1

Nov

embe

r 20,

200

1

Janu

ary

16, 2

002

April

11,

200

2

May

28,

200

2

July

24,

200

2

Sept

embe

r 11,

200

2

Oct

ober

23,

200

2

Dec

embe

r 4, 2

002

Janu

ary

17, 2

003

Mar

ch 2

1, 2

003

April

30,

200

3

June

4, 2

003

July

23,

200

3

Augu

st 2

8, 2

003

Oct

ober

7, 2

003

Nov

embe

r 12,

200

3

Janu

ary

6, 2

004

Full

Cys

ts p

er L

iter

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

Full

Cys

t Per

cent

age

Adjusted Mean Cysts/Liter

%Full Cysts

GSL Artemia Industry Harvest TotalsGSL Artemia Industry Harvest Totalsand Cyst Abundance in Septemberand Cyst Abundance in September

GSL Harvest and September Cyst Abundance

46 47158

850

2000400060008000

100001200014000

2000 2001 2002 2003

MT

Harv

est

0

50

100

150

200

Cysts/Liter

Harvest Cysts/L

Bolshoye Yarovoye

Siberia, Russia

Will the Aral Sea Support a Commercial Shoreline Operation?

Consistent cyst abundanceSmall percentage of shoreline is amenable to harvesting

Unknown buoyancy characteristics

Commercial Harvest on Aral Sea 2004-2005:Approximately 32 MT Total Material

Estimated 13 MT Brined WeightSuccessfully Processed & Marketed = 0 MT

2 months

GSL 2002

30 MT Harvested in < 6 hrs.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80SPRING CYSTS (no/l)

-1

0

1

2

3P

OP

ULA

TIO

N G

RO

WTH

(x's

/yr)

1998-99

1999-001997-98

1996-97

1994-95

2000-01

1995-96

2001-02

2002-03

0 20 40 60 80-1

0

1

2

3

ARTEMIA POPULATION GROWTH MODELARTEMIA POPULATION GROWTH MODELBasis for Continued Research and Restrictions Basis for Continued Research and Restrictions

on Commercial Scale Harvesting on Commercial Scale Harvesting

ANTHRAXANTHRAX

Economic Concerns: Cost of Production

Substantial transportation costsUnknown Cyst QualityDependability of Harvest is Highly UncertainExperimental Harvest is RecommendedCommercial Scale Harvest at this timeis Counter-productive.

ARTEMIA SAMPLING PROGRAMCHANGES FOR 2006

Increased sampling frequencyAdditional sampling locations on East Aral

Measures of cyst quality characteristicsChlorophyll measurements

Samples to USGS for nutrient isotope profileBuoyancy tests

Less emphasis on West Aral Sea

QUESTIONS?

Diapause Status of CystsDiapause Status of CystsGSL Water Column Cyst Quality Characteristics: Hatching Percentage

0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%

100.0%

Dec

embe

r 1, 2

001

Dec

embe

r 15,

200

1D

ecem

ber 2

9, 2

001

Janu

ary 1

2, 2

002

Janu

ary 2

6, 2

002

Febr

uary

9, 2

002

Febr

uary

23,

200

2M

arch

9, 2

002

Mar

ch 2

3, 2

002

April

6, 2

002

April

20,

200

2M

ay 4

, 200

2M

ay 1

8, 2

002

June

1, 2

002

June

15,

200

2Ju

ne 2

9, 2

002

July

13,

200

2Ju

ly 2

7, 2

002

Augu

st 1

0, 2

002

Augu

st 2

4, 2

002

Sep

tem

ber 7

, 200

2S

epte

mbe

r 21,

200

2O

ctob

er 5

, 200

2O

ctob

er 1

9, 2

002

Nov

embe

r 2, 2

002

Nov

embe

r 16,

200

2N

ovem

ber 3

0, 2

002

Dec

embe

r 14,

200

2D

ecem

ber 2

8, 2

002

Janu

ary 1

1, 2

003

Janu

ary 2

5, 2

003

Febr

uary

8, 2

003

Febr

uary

22,

200

3M

arch

8, 2

003

Mar

ch 2

2, 2

003

April

5, 2

003

April

19,

200

3M

ay 3

, 200

3M

ay 1

7, 2

003

May

31,

200

3Ju

ne 1

4, 2

003

June

28,

200

3Ju

ly 1

2, 2

003

July

26,

200

3Au

gust

9, 2

003

Augu

st 2

3, 2

003

Sep

tem

ber 6

, 200

3S

epte

mbe

r 20,

200

3O

ctob

er 4

, 200

3O

ctob

er 1

8, 2

003

Nov

embe

r 1, 2

003

Nov

embe

r 15,

200

3N

ovem

ber 2

9, 2

003

Dec

embe

r 13,

200

3D

ecem

ber 2

7, 2

003

Janu

ary 1

0, 2

004

Janu

ary 2

4, 2

004

DATE

Net Cysts HO% +H2O2Net Cysts HO% AS IS