The Indonesian government plans to develop a pilot lobster farm for breeding lobster larvae in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
By
BM LUKITA GRAHADYARINI
·3 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The government is readying pilot farms across the country for cultivating lobsters. Various obstacles must be tackled to ensure the efficient farming of lobsters.
The planned pilot lobster farms have been drafted in line with the government’s plan to revise Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Ministerial Regulation No. 56/2016 on the prohibition of catching and exporting lobsters (Panulirus spp), mud crab (Scylla spp) and swimmer crab (Portunus spp) in Indonesian waters. The regulation also bans catching lobster larvae for export and cultivation.
Fisheries and fish farming director general Slamet Soebjakto of the fisheries ministry said that a study on revising the regulation was still ongoing. The directorate general will prepare the necessary steps if the ban on catching lobster larvae for cultivation was lifted.
“I have been tasked [by the minister] to prepare several options for lobster cultivation. If [the farms] fail in the next five years, then we have failed,” he said on Thursday (19/12/2019)during a focus group discussion on lobster cultivation in Jakarta.
The plan is to establish the first lobster farm in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, which had experience in catching lobster larvae and farming. The pilot farm is to have 1,000 ponds, while cultivation methods and techniques were being prepared.
“We have extraordinary potential in lobster larvae and we must cultivate this. Our goal is to increase exports of lobsters for consumption, as it has high export value and high potential for [contributing to] foreign exchange revenues,” said Slamet.
He said that the lobster farms would be integrated with lobster feed production centers. Feed for the lobsters, such as mollusks, fish waste and shrimps, would be met by establishing feed production centers, including green mussel farms, near the lobster farms.
The fisheries ministry’s seeding director, Coco Cocarkin, said that the ministry would start collaborating with the University of Tasmania in Australia in February 2020 to cultivate lobster larvae. The university had developed a lobster breeding technology for commercial use.
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Lobster cultivation researcher Bayu Priyambodo at the ministry said that lobster farming was luxury food cultivation. Thus far, global lobster cultivation was limited to cultivating larvae. The lobster cultivation map would change with the discovery of a method to breed lobsters. “The global lobster demand is higher than supply. The only way to fulfill the demand for lobsters is by farming,” he said.
Indonesian Marine Fish Cultivation Association chair Effendy said that farming lobsters started around 10 years ago. The regulation that banned catching lobster larvae for cultivation had hindered his business. He said that he cultivated lobsters in secret, using larvae supplied by local fishermen.
Effendy produces between 500 kilograms and 1 ton of lobsters per season at his 200 ponds. A period of 8-12 months is required to produce lobsters that weigh between 800 grams and 1 kg. Ornate spiny lobsters are sold for Rp 1.2 million to Rp 1.4 million per kg, while scalloped spiny lobsters are exported for Rp 300,000 and Rp 400,000 per kg.