Lobster farming started in the early 1900s in Indonesia and has since spread globally. Lobsters are typically stocked in floating cages as juveniles and fed trash fish until they reach market size in 7-8 months. While lobster farming techniques have improved, it still faces challenges like water quality management, diseases, and cannibalism among cultured lobsters. The document outlines lobster biology, production trends, hatchery and nursery practices, feeding, culture systems, and harvesting for farmed lobsters. Tanzania has potential for expanded lobster culture due to suitable environmental conditions and market demand

1. ADVANCED MARICULTURE
Lobster Fish Farming
Magoti Ernest Ndaro
Dept. Of Animal, Aquaculture and Range
Science

2. Introduction
•Lobster have
cephalothorax and the
abdomen, head bears
antennae, antennules,
mandibles, maxillae and
compound eyes.
•have 8 walking legs they
are Decapods

3. BACKGROUND
• lobsters farming started 1900`s in
Indonesia and spread globally. Wild
catch of undersize lobsters were
stocked in floating cages and fed
with trash fish.
• After 7-8 months, were harvested at
the marketable size of 150-300 g.
• From early 2000 people are
practicing extensive farming of
lobster in Zanzibar

4. Habitat and biology
of lobster fish
 the habit in corals, and
inshore areas playing pivotal
roles as prey and predator
• lobster are nocturnal and
omnivorous grazing on
crustaceans, mollusks, worms
and algae
• they have
protective exoskeleton
they shed to grow.

5. GLOBAL PRODUCTION TREND OF
LOBSTER FISH

6. Cont.…

7. TREND OF LOBSTER
PRODUCTION IN
TANZANIA
• eight lobster species, eight
prawn species, and two crab
• The main producer Tanga,
Bagamoyo and Dar Es salaam
in 2021 Tanzania
exported $13.1M of
crustaceans, and rank
70th as largest exporter
of crustaceans in the
world, and 63rd most
exported product in
Tanzania.

8. SITE SELECTION Water quality parameters

9. Reproduction cycle of lobster

10. SOURCE OF SEEDS
Wild source
swimming pueruli move
from ocean to inshore water
and collected using trammel
gill nets, btn October and
March , with P. ornatus (70%)
and P. homarus (30%)
Pueruli are transported to
nursery area followed by
acclimatization

11. Hatchery
source
Bloodstock selection
• Berried Lobsters (look
like berries under tail) are
held in tanks with filters
until the eggs hatch.
• Berried hens are collected
from
fishermen/aquaculture

12. cont...
Larval lobsters
• Larval are positively
phototactic After hatching, are
placed in tanks and fed live
plankton, water is filtered and
aerated to maintain water
quality.
• moult their shell regularly, after 3
moults is no longer a larva it
becomes negatively phototactic
and fed worms. At 18oC grow fast
to reach stage 4 after 28 days.

13. cont...
Juvenile lobsters
• it is important to keep
juveniles in separate
compartments due to
cannibalistic nature of
lobster.
• juvenile stage requires lots
of space and manpower
to feed and clean the
lobsters.

14. GROW OUT
•lobsters are stocked in
culture system and fed
with trash fish. After 7-
8 months, they attain
marketable size of 150-
300 g and 1 kg for 18-20
month.
•a reddish color, is a
sign for stress.

15. FATTENING OF
LOBSTER
•Soft shell lobster
collected form wild
and fed food under
captivity to enhance
their size and quality
•fattening cutoff cost
and production time

16. FEED SOURCE
•There is no specific diets for lobster under
captivity
•Lobster feed on natural food, trash fish,
mussels, sea urchins, mollusks plant materials,
and shrimp pellets

17. CULTURE SYSTEM
• Cage (30/m2)
• Pen culture
• Ponds (5-2/m2)
• Sea ranching

18. HARVESTING
TECHNIQUES
• Harvesting can be partial
or complete techniques btn
culture system to another
• common way of killing
lobsters is by placing in
boiling water, freezer for
a period/split the lobster.

19. CHALLENGES
• Water Quality
Management
• Diseases
• cannibalism
Potential for lobster
culture Tanzania
•Adaptability
•Feeding habits
•Demand

20. Thankyou for your attention