This paper summarizes experiences and findings in the development of a tidal saltpond system, integrated for commercial Artemia production. The basic rules of successful pond production of fish and shrimp, which are the exclusion of predators and competitors, the maintenance of good water-quality, the provision of sufficient food and the proper harvesting method, also govern Artemia culture. In attempting to achieve successful Artemia culture, an integrated flow-through system was developed. The necessity for a detailed plan of the ponds with well-determined elevations, advantageous positioning of gates and canals, correct pond orientations, and well-constructed dikes is considered crucial to integration. Procedures for proper Artemia pond preparation are discussed. The relatively high rainfall (1 200-2 000 mm/year) in the Philippines necessitates reliable screen designs to exclude potential fish predators and overflow devices for freshwater runoff, to extend the duration of Artemia seasons. Installation of tidal plane gauges and an auxiliary high volume pump in the salt farm permits the manipulation of water levels to ensure adequate water exchange or supply to the system, high evaporation : salt bed ratios, and optimal depths of high salinity water. The daily water requirements for the system were determined and its relationship to salt production examined. The integration of organic fertilization and the utilization of drainage from semi-intensive prawn and shrimp ponds enabled to achieve high standing crops of Artemia (up to 7 tonnes wet weight/ha) in high-salinity ponds that are unsuited for fish or prawn culture. Under optimal conditions, the Artemia cyst production reaches 20 kg dry weight/ha/month.

The physicochemical and biological parameters of an integrated flow-through poultry-salt-Artemia-milkfish-sea bass-shrimp pond production system were monitored for 6 months to determine the pattern of nutrient changes and associated plankton communities as water passed through the system. A 20 ha salt farm in Negros Oriental, Philippines, was used as a model of the integrated system. The construction of a poultry farm at the inlet reservoir provides continuous fertilization and allows considerable control of nutrient inputs to the pond system. Nutrients increase markedly in the chicken pond and in subsequent ponds undergo cycles of biological assimilation and bacterial mineralization. Principal component analysis ordinates temporal and spatial changes in 33 variables that were monitored. Using scatter diagrams of the principal components enabled separation of ponds adjacent to the crystallization bed and ponds high in fish biomass from the rest of the system. Variables that served to numerically delineate the ponds in this manner were salinity, phosphate, ammonia, alkalinity, turbidity, acidity, microplants, pico- and nannoplankton. The implications of this ordination in relation to pond management techniques is discussed.