Stimulating the local economy by saving the Asian spiny lobster

by Peter van der Werf, South Sea Exclusive

Spiny lobsters are a highly prized delicacy. Even though the price of spiny lobsters have doubled in recent years, the demand keeps increasing. This has had a heavy toll on wild spiny lobsters. The demand, coupled with illegal fishing techniques and the lack of proper fishery management, has led to spiny lobsters being severely threatened in most of the areas where they naturally occur.

South Sea Exclusive (SSE), an mariculture company is addressing this situation. At SSE we are strongly convinced that one solution to save the spiny lobster from extinction is sustainable mariculture. We are currently in the early stages of sustainably cultivating spiny lobsters in a mariculture facility in the Philippines.

While lobster farming is done in several Asian countries, it is unfortunately not done sustainably. The conventional farms endanger the marine reef ecosystems with chemicals and effluent, while capturing and fattening wild lobsters artificially threatens the wild lobster population. Adult lobsters are not returned to the sea to sustain the wild population.

The South Sea Exclusive approach

SSE has a different approach. To be sustainable, SSE will hatch spiny lobster eggs and grow larvae to mature lobsters. At present this is done on a small scale, but we forecast that within five years we will be able to do this on a commercial scale. To achieve this target we cooperate with scientists from the Philippines and western Europe.

Spiny lobsters play an important role in the stability of coastal coral reefs. Hunting at night, they prey on invertebrates and molluscs, acting as vultures, keeping the reef clean and tidy. The depleting populations are thus having a negative impact on the reefs. To reverse this situation, SSE will return a substantial number of adult lobsters back into the wild to boost the population and let them do their valuable work. This will be done in designated marine protected areas. Research has shown that this will significantly contribute to the conservation of the marine ecosystem.

Boosting the socio-economic position of the area

SSE’s mission is not only to sustainably produce spiny lobsters, but also to promote the sustainable development of the local community. We do this in two ways: creating employment and through the South Sea Exclusive Foundation. As elsewhere, depleted fish stocks has put many local fishermen on the breadline. We will offer employment to some of them to catch lobster larvae and to release adult specimens. For this work, we will provide special training which will focus particularly on where, when and how to release the mature lobsters in the marine protected areas.

We also work with the wider community. SSE will invest five percent of its profits in the South Sea Exclusive Foundation. The Foundation has three focus areas:

• Environmental education for the community’s children emphasising the cultural knowledge of a sustainable life in balance with the natural environment.

• Microcredit for local environmentally sustainable projects to enable the community to develop and implement their own initiatives.

• Reforestation of the coastal slopes and mangrove forests so that invertebrates and fish can return and restore the quality of the coastal coral reefs.

While South Sea Exclusive aims to become a commercially healthy company, it strongly believes that only by investing in the local ecology and community, will it achieve this aim. By working together with the local people, we bring benefits to the community and stimulate the conservation of the surrounding coral reef systems. In this way, we ensure our own success.