Artemia in Kenya: Research Progress and Gaps

Brine shrimp Artemia (Crustacea: Anostraca) is globally recognised as a key live feed in aquaculture larviculture. Its high nutritional value, availability as dormant cysts, long shelf life, ease of storage, rapid hatching and broad applicability across marine and freshwater aquaculture systems makes Artemia a reliable and flexible live feed. In Kenya, Artemia franciscana was introduced into coastal saltworks from San Francisco Bay (SFB), USA, in the early 1980s through a collaborative initiative between Ghent University, Belgium and Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), known as the Kenya-Belgium Project (KBP). This initiated over four decades of Artemia presence and research. Despite this history, the scientific literature on Artemia research in Kenya remains fragmented and not comprehensively synthesised. This review examined 20 peer-reviewed articles, theses and conference papers on Artemia research in Kenya published between 1986 and 2024. Publications were categorised by year, thematic focus area, institutional affiliation, research approach and source of Artemia populations used. Six thematic categories were identified: bioassay/toxicology (n = 6, 30%), larviculture/live feed (n = 4, 20%), production biology (n = 4, 20%), genetics and population characterisation (n = 3, 15%), saltwork ecology (n = 2, 10%), and introduction/reviews (n = 1, 5%). A notable 17-year research gap (1993–2010) was observed, indicating prolonged discontinuity in direct Artemia research. Further analysis of Artemia source data revealed that Kenyan produced Artemia populations were used in studies that focused on production biology, larviculture and ecology. On the other hand, Great Salt Lake (GSL) commercial cysts sourced from Germany were exclusively used in bioassay-based research. Major knowledge gaps identified include the absence of nation-wide Artemia population surveys in Kenyan saline ecosystems, limited nutritional profiling of local Artemia populations, limited marine larviculture trials and an absence of socio-economic analyses. These findings demonstrate that although Artemia has been present in Kenya for over four decades, its scientific and commercial potential remains insufficiently explored.