Philippine researchers achieve successful rearing in slipper lobster aquaculture project

Researchers at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center/ Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) in Iloilo province in the Philippines have successfully grown slipper lobster larvae into juveniles, moving closer to the goal of making the species suitable for farming.

The juveniles were the first produced by SEAFDEC/AQD. These were hatched last September from an egg-bearing lobster collected in Carles, Iloilo.

"Slipper lobster juveniles are the final product of a hatchery," said Dan Baliao, chief of SEAFDEC/AQD. "Once we master producing more of them, we can move on to the mass production of slipper lobster in nurseries and grow-out farms."

The slipper lobster underwent four phyllosomal larval stages and a nisto stage before molting into juveniles after 42 days, with each one measuring 0.6 cm across and 1.6 cm long.

The initial hatching of slipper lobster eggs at SEAFDEC/AQD was part of a Japan-funded project aimed at developing a new aquaculture industry in the Philippines.

Slipper lobsters are priced between PHP500 and PHP700 (US$8.50 and US$12) per kilogram. SEAFDEC/AQD said this offers a more affordable alternative to spiny lobsters, which can cost over PHP1,500 (US$26) each.