Spiny species to star at shellfish event
Dr David Fletcher from RAS Aquaculture Research (RASAR) and Seiont Research Ltd will explain the work being undertaken to develop hatchery culture technology for P. elephas, with a view to supporting future diversification of coastal aquaculture.
Over-exploitation of the UK fishery for this species has resulted in significant declines in landings since the mid-‘70s. It is no longer caught in some of its former strongholds, with under 5 tonnes of this prized seafood species being landed annually in England and Wales. Similar patterns are seen throughout its European range.
According to Dr Fletcher, the European spiny lobster has several key biological, ecological, economic and political characteristics that support its commercial culture using recirculation aquaculture system (RAS) technology, an area that is receiving growing interest from the fish farming sector.
“Commercial farming of P. elephas, that involved local fishery cooperatives, could eventually assist with the initiation of stock enhancement programmes to restore depleted UK P. elephas fisheries, while also offering diversification opportunities to coastal fishing communities,” he said.
Natural England provided some early financial support to the project while the Wales Assembly Government (WAG) and the European Fisheries Fund has funded an expansion of the programme. The major obstacle to overcome is to establish the hatchery technology. Identification of an acceptable artificial feed is an absolute key requirement for the viable culture of any species and the current programme supported by WAG / EFF has made good progress to achieve this goal. The project has identified several of the environmental and physical culture conditions necessary to support production of all 6 phyllosoma stages but water quality requirements still require refining to improve stability of production. Most importantly, recent work has focused on developing an artificial feed for phyllosoma culture. Some key nutrient attractants have been identified. Total independence of fresh feeds will be absolutely critical to sustain stable juvenile P. elephas production particularly since the highly sensitive plankton stages last several weeks.
“We have made good progress in several areas, but once juvenile production is secured it will be necessary to assess the economics of land based production of marketable lobsters. However, considering the market value of P. elephas it is a considerably more attractive species for farming using RAS technology than several fish species currently being considered for UK production. The immediate major hurdle though is to develop the hatchery technology.
