ILOILO CITY — Researchers at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center/Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) based in Tigbauan town, Iloilo province have successfully grown young slipper lobsters, which have big potential in the seafood industry.
A YOUNG slipper lobster successfully grown by researchers at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center/Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) in Iloilo province. (NG Armada)
The research team of Dr. Shelah Mae Ursua, Dr. Sayaka Ito, Dr. Leobert de la Peña, Donita Gwen Gulmatico, and Ryan Tigres were able to grow slipper lobsters from an egg sourced in Carles, a town in northern Iloilo.
With this development, SEAFDEC/AQD is seeing mass production.
“Slipper lobster juveniles are the final product of a hatchery. Once we master producing more of them, we can move on to the mass production of slipper lobster in nurseries and grow-out farms,” said SEAFDEC/AQD chief Dan Baliao.
The slipper lobsters, known locally as “pitik-pitik," are sold anywhere from P500 to P700 per kilo.
The slipper lobster, scientific name thenus orientalis, is an alternative to the famous spiny lobster, which costs around P1,500 or more per kilo.
The slipper lobster was first made to hatch eggs at SEAFDEC/AQD last September.
The team’s research was funded by Japan as SEAFDEC/AQD aims to create the country’s newest aquaculture industry.