Artemia Culture as a substation for Development of Agriculture and Fisheries Using Salty Drains

Objective: Artemia culture is a main activity in the production of protein for aquaculture by salty or brackish drainage water that cannot be used in agriculture, natural resources, drinking and industry. Native Artemia can be cultured in Countries with salt water resources and suitable climatic condition. Methods: two species of native brine shrimp Artemia parthenogenetica and Artemia franciscana were cultured according to standard methods on 6 ponds with an area of 3 ha at Qom province, Iran for a period of 180 days. Results: The results revealed that native species enjoy a better cyst,nauplii and biomass production than imported species as 300 and 265 kg cysts per ha were produced from Qom native species and imported A. franciscana , respectively. Also, 4000 and 3200 kg biomass was harvested from native and imported species, respectively. Conclusion: It may be concluded that culture of native species growing in natural environments can preserve genetic resources in each area and prevent of the entering of invasive species. By Artemia culture in salty ponds, especially in countries encountered with water shortage and drought such as Iran, it can be considered as an alternative culture in sustainable agriculture developments of these countries.