Coastal Aquaculture and Mariculture (2+1)

1.2.3. Crustacean - spiny lobsters

Unit 1 - Shore based aquaculture and mariculture

1.2.3. Crustaceans - spiny lobsters
Tropical spiny rock lobsters (Family Panuliridae), and particularly the ornate lobster (Panulirus ornatus), are cultured in Southeast Asia, with the bulk of production in Vietnam and the Philippines.

Lobster aquaculture in Vietnam produces about 1,500 tonnes valued at around US$40 million per annum. Tropical spiny rock lobsters are cultured in cages. In Vietnam, fixed, floating and submerged net cages are used, the former in shallow sheltered areas where the cages can be fixed to the substrate. Submerged cages are mainly used for nursing juvenile lobsters and are located in shallow water. A feeding pipe allows feed to be dropped into the cage, and limits the depth at which this system can be used. Floating cages may be used in depths up to 20 m. Seed stock is obtained from the wild. In Vietnam, coconut logs are drilled with holes to provide an artificial substrate for puerulus/juvenile settlement. Once settled, the juveniles are removed from the logs and placed in nursery cages. Lobsters are fed exclusively on fresh fish and shellfish, using about 70 percent fish and 30 percent shellfish.

In the Philippines, the preferred size at stocking is 100–300 g, and it takes 6–15 months for the lobsters to grow to the optimum size of 0.8–1.3 kg. Survival is around 90 percent, although stocking smaller lobsters (30–80 g) reduces survival to less than 50 percent.

Lobster - Panulirus sp.