Advances in lobster breeding research

In the world, no country has successfully produced commercial lobster breeds, but currently the Aquaculture Research Institute III ( Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ) is researching lobster breeds to the 9th stage. This is a positive sign in the research and production of lobster breeds in the coming time.

According to Mr. Le Van Hoan - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), lobster is the main aquaculture species in many coastal localities in the province, with about 65,000 cages, annual output of more than 1,300 tons, mainly spiny lobster and green lobster. However, currently, lobster seeds exploited from nature in the province only meet about 15% of the demand of farmers, the rest depends on imported seeds mainly from countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar.

Lobster seeds for commercial farming in the province mainly depend on natural exploitation and imports from a number of countries.

At the conference “Current status of supply of seeds, feed, materials for marine aquaculture; traceability of products and solutions for sustainable development of marine aquaculture in Vietnam” held in Nha Trang City at the end of November, leaders of some units under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development informed that the Chinese market has changed some regulations related to the import of spiny lobsters. Accordingly, China has determined that natural spiny lobsters are prohibited from being caught, used, and traded. China also defines farmed lobsters as originating from F2 breeds. This means that spiny lobsters harvested from the wild and put into commercial farming are also considered to have their origin from natural exploitation.

To meet the sustainable development needs of commercial lobster farming, more than 13 years ago, the Research Institute for Aquaculture III began implementing a project on lobster seed production. In 2010, the research stopped when the lobster larvae developed to stage 5 after 89 days of incubation. In 2018, the research project was restarted based on previous results and made great progress. As of November 2023, the institute's research team had produced lobster larvae to stage 9, after more than 120 days of incubation.

Mr. Vo Van Nha - Deputy Director of the Institute of Aquaculture Research III informed at the conference: The research results up to the 9th stage, the survival rate of lobster larvae reached 0.5%, while the requirement of the State-level project is only 0.001%. This is a huge step forward for the research team, opening up hope for lobster seed production in the near future. However, when passing the 10th stage, the larvae die, the first reason is "special nutritional needs" when the larvae molt; the second may be due to the water quality and the environment of the tank after 120 days affecting the lobster larvae. To become commercial lobster seeds, the larvae will have to develop to stage 12. Mr. Nha hopes that in the near future, the research team will handle food and environmental issues for the project to be successful.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, every year Vietnam imports 75 - 80 million lobster seeds to serve commercial lobster farming. Regarding lobster seed production, no country in the world has announced successful production research. The Research Institute for Aquaculture III has successfully researched at the 9th stage, preparing to enter the 10th stage, but there are still some challenges to overcome. The research team needs to monitor the place where lobsters spawn to create a natural environment in the tank. As for nutrition, it is necessary to study the physiological characteristics, digestion and needs before coming up with appropriate rations and nutritional regimens. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is ready to chair a workshop with scientists to work with the Research Institute for Aquaculture III to thoroughly resolve the difficulties currently arising in lobster seed production.

HAI LANG

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