Great Salt Lake (GSL) is a hypersaline terminal lake located in northern Utah, USA. Multiple years of research on GSL strongly suggest that harvest management, nutrients and salinity are the primary drivers of the Artemia population on the lake. We review the implementation of technical solutions that combine to optimize Artemia harvest management, nutrient inflows, and salinities to support a healthy Artemia population in GSL.
Management of the Artemia cyst harvest began in 1997, and is based upon a modified Ricker recruitment curve in which leaving a post-harvest escapement stock of 21 cysts per liter results in optimal cyst densities the next autumn (Figure 1). This criteria has been re-evaluated annually, incorporating the latest year’s data. Harvest results spanning the last 3 decades are presented to demonstrate the results of this adaptive harvest management model.
Gilbert bay, the south arm of GSL, relies on natural and anthropogenic sources of nutrients to replenish approximately 10% of dissolved nitrogen annually. We review how nutrients and water management in the GSL basin are intertwined and present novel solutions to nutrient management that support continued nutrient inflows into the lake such as the implementation of numeric nutrient criteria with associated ecological responses and redirected inflow of anthropogenic effluents.
Historic data and literature studies suggest the optimal salinity range for GSL Artemia is between 120 to 160 ppt. A causeway dividing the lake into two separate bays with different salinities and a breach with an adaptive management berm (Figure 2) offers a unique salinity management solution for Gilbert Bay. We present the principles of bidirectional flow between the bays of Great Salt Lake and how the adaptive management berm can be used to regulate salinity under a variety of environmental conditions.