Bio-Economics of Tropical Spiny Lobster Farming in Indonesia

Significant tropical spiny lobster puerulus settlements have been found in bays around central Indonesia, leading to the development of lobster growout aquaculture starting in 2008. In recent years grow-out farming has all but stopped due to the development in 2013 of the export market for lobster juveniles to Vietnam, as well as the 2015 introduction of a government policy banning capture of small wild-caught lobsters. We compare results of a 2016 recall survey of 96 lobster farming households with 2011 survey data. Before the industry’s demise, lobster grow-out was only marginally profitability due to the lack of low-cost juveniles and inefficient feeding practices. We recommend lifting the government ban on wild capture of small lobster to allow the legal benefit of juvenile exports and to allow the aquaculture industry to regenerate. We suggest that the government could best serve the lobster industry by investing in research into sustainable fishing of the puerulus resource and low-cost formulated lobster diets.