The Hindu Business Line : Breakthrough in captive breeding of sand lobsters

THE scientists at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) claimed to have achieved a breakthrough in the captive breeding of the sand lobster Thenus orientalis at its Chennai Research Centre.

It was the team of scientists led by Mr Joy K. Kizhakudan at the Kovalam field laboratory that achieved the captive breeding of the one of the much-sought after lobster varieties in the domestic as well as international markets.

The annual export of this lobster variety during the recent years was to the tune of 130 tonnes valued at Rs 4.51 crore.

The CMFRI Director, Dr Mohan Joseph Modayil, said that this is for the first time that the captive breeding of the species was successfully carried out in India.

Earlier, there were reports that Australia had successfully bred the species. The present success opens up a new era for commercial farming of the sand lobsters for the export market.

However, it will be take a few more years to develop the entire package of technology including hatchery development of brood stock, breeding, larval rearing, settlement, nursery protocols, grow-out, feeding and formulated feed development, he said.

According to the Director, the scientists also need to work on the husbandry and farm management, disease prevention, harvest and transportation of live lobsters to live fish market and quality assurance.

The T. orientalis has a short larval phase, which is a great advantage in developing commercially feasible hatchery technology, he added.

The scientists of CMFRI are also planning to start a pilot project to field test the results in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala coasts.