Aquaculture of Marine Lobsters

Marine lobsters include some of the most highly prized and valuable seafood species in the world. Accessible wild populations of edible lobster species are under increasing pressure from harvesting, habitat loss, disease, pollution and climate change. To provide an alternative supply, there have been extensive efforts to develop aquaculture methods for many species of marine lobsters, but with slow progress. A range of unfavorable biological attributes of marine lobsters has constrained their development for aquaculture, including complex life cycles, low fecundity, extended larval periods, slow growth, and cannibalism. A lack of knowledge of aspects of the fundamental biology of many species has also made it challenging to advance aquaculture techniques. Currently, the only extensive commercial aquaculture of marine lobsters occurs in Vietnam, with annual production of well over 1,000 t of spiny lobsters. This involves the wild capture and mariculture of early juveniles of several species of spiny lobsters in simple floating sea cages and feeding them on freshly caught marine life, mostly small coastal fish and benthic invertebrates. The success of this apparently simple technology indicates the opportunity for increased aquaculture production as soon as the recent advances in larval culture of spiny (Palinuridae) and slipper (Scyllaridae) lobsters can provide a large and sustainable source of juveniles. While viable larval culture methods for the American and European clawed lobsters (Homaridae) have been available for some time, more recent advances with compartmentalized land- and sea-based culture systems show promise in overcoming the cannibalistic behavior of these species, an essential step toward developing commercially viable aquaculture. The likely emergence of large-scale commercial aquaculture of marine lobsters in the next decade has the potential to provide an alternative supply of lobsters into global seafood markets, with the prospect of relieving fishing pressure on wild populations of marine lobsters.