"Spiny lobsters are one of the most highly-prized fisheries species in the world, and especially in Florida waters," says Megan Davis, director of Harbor Branch's aquaculture program. "This research is very exciting because we expect to make breakthroughs that will help to make the culture of this species a reality, " she says.

Spiny lobster is an ideal target for commercial culture due to its high value and limited availability from wild capture, mostly using traps. Each year, 3 to 4 million pounds of Florida spiny lobsters valued at about $17 million are harvested and account for 11% of the spiny lobsters on the U.S. market. Overfishing of lobster has also led to ecological problems in some areas that might be relieved through successful culture and release to the wild. The main barrier to successful commercial spiny lobster culture, which has been explored through pilot programs in various countries, has been the need to collect larvae from the wild and the difficulty in doing so. The lobster larval growth cycle is extremely complicated and as yet reproduction and growth to adulthood has not been accomplished in captivity in reliable numbers.

Development of collection methods to get enough larvae to support large-scale commercial culture has so far not been possible, but in 2003 technicians with Puerto Rico- based Snapperfarm, Inc.,discovered that lobster larvae by the thousands happened to be settling on large submerged cages the company uses to raise fish. The cages, anchored in 100 feet of water, are about 50 feet high by 80 feet in diameter, making for a total of 12,000 square feet of lobster larvae-snagging surface area. In 2004,
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Contact: Mark Schrope
schrope@hboi.edu
772-216-0390
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
16-Mar-2005