Ltd., leads the world in lobster hatchery technology. It recently embarked on a lobster farming project in Sabah, East Malaysia, that will grow hatchery-produced, slipper lobsters in floating sea cages. Its hatchery-produced spiny lobsters will also be tested at the pilot farm. Lobster Harvest is an outgrowth of the MG Kailis Group, which pioneered Western Australia’s lobster fishery fifty years ago. Kailis began its lobster hatchery research over ten years ago, and in June 2006, at its research facility in Exmouth, it successfully cultured spiny lobster through the sensitive larval stages and produced spiny lobster juveniles, the first organization in the world to do so. It did it again in 2007 and 2008, and the offspring were grown to adults. In 2007, it created Lobster Harvest, where it remains a major shareholder. The Video: Before you read the rest of this report, I recommend that you watch the six-minute video of Lobster Harvest’s new pilot farm in Sabah, Malaysia. You’

We used the former Aquaprawns hatchery to produce and sell M. rosenbergii PLs all over the USA and Mexico. Besides working with both freshwater prawns and marine shrimp, we also examined the commercial potential of other species, like spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), shovelnose lobster (Scyllarides nodifer) and about six species of marine ornamental shrimp. CSCI really got moving in late 1979 with a contract from Amfac, a Hawaiian company, and some private investors that were interested in intensive marine shrimp farming. Mike Roegge and I designed and developed a three-phase system for them. It used round tanks with double-inflated covers. Using a meat grinder as a feed extruder and a homemade solar feed dryer, we formulated and made our own experimental intensive shrimp diets based on Dr. L. Benard Colvin’s formulas at the University of Arizona. Our super-intensive production system worked quite well. It was self-cleaning and used very little makeup water. We grew both P. vannamei

Source: ABC News. Call for Eased Aquaculture Regulations. September 27, 2010. Cayman Islands The Caribbean Spiny Lobster Virus Marine scientist Donald Behringer will be pulling the legs off 200 live lobsters to determine if a deadly virus is present in Cayman’s population of Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus). Results of laboratory experiments have shown that the virus, known as Panulirus argus virus I, or PaV1, can be transmitted to juvenile lobsters via inoculation, ingestion of diseased tissue, contact with diseased lobsters and, among the smallest juveniles, through the water over distances of several feet. Behringer is planning to examine 100 lobsters from Grand Cayman and another 100 in Little Cayman when he begins his research in October 2010. The disease has been seen in a number of locations throughout the Caribbean, but no checks have been done in Cayman to determine if it is prevalent in the local lobster population. The blood of baby lobsters infected with

Last week, I posted this picture of two lobster tails and asked if anyone could identify the species. I’m not surprised that only one person responded because I missidentified the lobsters in my setup, calling them spiny lobsters, only to learn later, when I went back to the store and looked at the box that they were small American lobster tails (Homarus americanus) from Canada, distributed by ORION Seafood International in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. Information: ORION Seafood International, 20 Ladd Street, Third Floor, Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03801, USA (email info@orionseafood.com, webpage http://www.orionseafood.com/contact/index.shtml). Source: Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, May 24, 2010. United States Washington DC—Shrimp Imports Down in the First Quarter of 2010 USA shrimp imports were down 4.4 percent in the first quarter of 2010, according to figures released by the National Marine Fisheries Service on May 12, 2010. Indonesia and Ecuador were the

Source: Bangkok Post. Shrimp Exports Set to Surge. Phusadee Arunmas (phusadea@bangkokpost.co.th). May 6, 2010. United States California—Shrimp News International, What Species Is This? Hi, I bought these three-ounce spiny lobster tails at my local Albertsons grocery store for $4 each, discounted from $6 each. The guy behind the counter couldn’t tell me anything about their species or origin. I took them out of their shells, which was quite easy, and quickly fried them in a hot pan with a little butter, garlic and salt and pepper. It was my first experience with spiny lobster, and I was surprised that they did not taste like the American coldwater lobster from New England. They were quite nice, however, with a very light “crustacean” flavor that was almost completely overwhelmed by my seasoning. Next time I’m going to try broiling the tails and eating them with no seasoning, just to see if I can get closer to the true taste. I did my best to identify the species, but

part of the Darden Restaurant Group, to study the country’s potential for lobster farming over the next five years. If Red Lobster decides the islands’ waters are suitable, it may set up the country’s first spiny lobster farm. So far, Red Lobster has spent 18 months in Turks and Caicos conducting preliminary research on the island of South Caicos. Its permit allows it to set up a small aquaculture nursery and to grow lobsters—after it does extensive research on local conditions. For a minute-and-a-half video report on the project that includes pictures of spiny lobsters and additional background information on the project, click here. In the video, Wesley Clerveaux, the island country’s Director of Environment and Coastal Resources, said, “Promotion of aquaculture is the desire of the department and the government; it’s a means of diversifying fisheries.... If built sustainably aquaculture could become the future of fishing in the world.” Sources: 1. Turks and Caicos

Country Reports Australia Shrimp and Lobster Farming on the Same Site Everything about the spiny lobster conspires to make it a seafood status symbol. Its porcelain-perfect exoskeleton is overlaid with blue and orange decorations so striking that the word “ornament” appears in its scientific name, Panulirus ornatus. It shuns the cooking pot altogether and is served raw, sashimi style, typically at Chinese weddings. P. ornatus is expensive to produce, but the end product is so valuable, fetching up to $100 a kilogram wholesale, that hatchery-based ornatus farms offer an attractive commercial opportunity. Australian scientists and Lobster Harvest, Pty. Ltd., funded by Australia’s MG Kailis Group, have figured out how to breed this Rolls Royce of lobsters. In December 2009, Lobster Harvest, which has exclusive rights to the technology being developed by the collaboration, said it expects to be in a position to commercialize its hatchery technology in three or four years. Could

Source: VenezuelAnalysis.com. Venezuela and Iran Inaugurate Binational Fund, Advance Bilateral Relations. James Suggett. November 26, 2009. Vietnam Spiny Lobster Farming Abstract: With a coastline of 3,260 kilometers and more than 4,000 coastal islands, Vietnam has great potential for seacage aquaculture. Seacage culture of spiny lobsters started in the province of Khanh Hoa in 1992 and has expanded significantly around southcentral Vietnam since 2000. Panulirus ornatus is the most important farmed species, but P. homarus, P. stimpsoni and P. longipes are also farmed. In 2006, there were more than 49,000 cages producing approximately 1,900 tons of product, valued at about $90 million. In late 2006, however, “milky disease” hit the industry and production declined to an estimated 1,400 tons in 2007. This paper reviews the status of spiny lobster farming in seacages in Vietnam and identifies the major technical and socioeconomic constraints to further development. Source: Spiny

Source: Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Website. Ca Mau: Black Tiger Shrimp Sales Price Increase. January 18, 2010. Vietnam Fusarium Hits Spiny Lobsters This paper reports on the first case of black gill disease (Fusarium solani, a fungi) in caged-cultured spiny lobsters (Panulirus ornatus). F. solani is frequently isolated from American lobsters Homarus americanus, shrimp such as Penaeus japonicus and P. californiensis, and sharks. Milky hemolymph syndrome, possibly caused a by Rickettsia-like bacteria, has been identified as the biggest disease problem for Panulirus farmers in Vietnam. Source: Aquaculture Asia Magazine. Editor, Simon Wilkinson. Aquatic Animal Health/Black Gill Disease of Cage-Cultured Ornate Rock Lobster Panulirus Ornatus in Central Vietnam Caused by Fusarium Species. Nha, V.V. (lvkhoa©dah.gov.vn, Research Institute for Aquaculture No.3, 33 Dang Tat Str., Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam), Hoa, D.T., and Khoa, L.V. Volume 14, Number-

United States California—Spiny Lobster Moms At the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (a facility of the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Recreation and Parks), Adrienne McColl (left), a teenage intern volunteer, and Cora Webber (right), a lab assistant, are studying the possibility of farming spiny lobsters. Like other researchers before them, they want to raise California spiny lobsters in captivity. “We were joking that if you could raise a California spiny lobster in captivity you’d be famous,” said Webber. “It’s just plain old fun seeing how far you can get.” No one has ever before reared the locally abundant California spiny lobsters (Panulirus interruptus), also called rock lobsters, from birth through their arduous first year and into adulthood. This is the fourth year Webber has tried to raise spiny lobsters. In the past three years, she’s carefully nursed hundreds of them at a time, only to see them die. She came closest last year when one of the lobsters lived