The meeting analyzed conditions for artemia breeding.

Hazar Balyk Open Joint Stock Company together with leading Belgian specialists in the research and testing of Artemia Salina and marine fish held a meeting in Ashgabat on Friday to discuss development of a project on breeding Artemia Salina in Turkmenistan, the company Director General Suvkhanmyrat Atayev told Business Turkmenistan.

The main goal of the project is to address the issue of healthy and wholesome feeding of fish. This concept is aimed at breeding artemia salina crustaceans and using their cysts as food. Hazar balyk aims to launch a pilot project to breed Artemia Salina in Turkmenistan as early as 2024.

The meeting was attended by Suvkhanmurat Atayev, Philippe Leger, an expert in water management and aquaculture, Patrick Sorgeloos, Professor Emeritus at Ghent University of Belgium, as well as specialists of Türkmengeologiýa (Turkmen Geology) State Corporation and the Hydrometeorological Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan.

The meeting discussed and analyzed the indicators of the Caspian Sea level, water salinity level, climatic changes and other conditions for artemia breeding. 

Artemia is used as a first-class, highly nutritious food for fish, shrimps, crabs, lobsters bred in fish factories and farms. Life expectancy as an adult is about 4 months. Artemia are capable of producing offspring (up to 300 cyst eggs) every four days.

Hazar Balyk OJSC, located in the city of Turkmenbashi in Balkan province, was founded in 2015. The company operates a production complex that includes water reservoirs for artificial breeding of sturgeon fish and black caviar production, and a fish processing plant. Hazar Balyk is the leading fish breeding and processing enterprise in Turkmenistan.