This is a spin-off thread from the 'Building a Small Lobster Hatchery here in the Philippines'
https://www.istorya.net/forums/busin...ilippines.html I will be discussing several types of lobster Pueruli traps which are commonly used with success in pueruli collection in neighboring countries, but have yet to be widely used here in the Philippines. I have also designed two different units which I have already constructed the frames which I will be deploying on Dinagat Island. This is for a study I will be conducting and sharing findings with a local university and fisheries department. These two prototypes are a floating 'light' trap and a coconut log trap which will be durable, inexpensive to construct and easy to use and maintenance. These will be used to safely 'live capture' lobster Pueruli (plural)/Puerulus (singular) for 'grow-out' and fed research. I will be maintaining logs to document nightly catch numbers throughout the collection season, details as to preferred locations and water depths. The captured Pueruli will be quickly relocated to 'nursery grow-out' nets where they will be properly sized and monitors. Individuals will be maintained in a low-stress environment, properly sized and sufficiently sheltered. This will allow accurate monitoring as to their individual weekly growth rate and total body weight. As latent stage Pigment-pueruli enter their 'Puerulus' Instar cycle they will be separated and monitored. This will allow the documentation and accurate accounting of individual mortality rates. The 'Puerulus' Instar historically has a mortality rate of 40%-60%. My goal is to lower stress levels, minimize acts of aggression and cannibalism and decrease mortality rates. Those which survive the 'Puerulus' Instar (moult) then are in a feeding state.
These individuals will then strictly monitored as to food types, food preferences, total growth/weight gaind, stocking densities. The goal is to accurately determine optimum levels needed to maximize stock growth, general health; while minimizing food costs, labor costs and environmental stresses. This information will assist 'grow-out' aquaculture operators, fishery services and environmentalist.
I imagine most readers of this thread really do not know what Pueruli/Puerulus (lobster fingerlings) look like. But I am sure most have seen more mature size lobster. This little sea bug is commonly referred to as a seedling, seed or fingerling in most text you will read, and it is the very heart of the lobster aquacultural industry. This is a Puerulus of the species
Panulirus ornatus commonly referred to as the '''Ornate Rock Lobster' or 'Tiger Lobster' and is one of eight different species of Panulirus lobsters commonly found in these waters around the islands of the Philippines. It grows the fastest and the largest of any species of lobster in this region, and is most prized by the Asian markets (Singapore, S.Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and China). It yields 38% more usable meat per individual (per weight size) than do North American and European lobsters species, and the meat yielded has been proven to possess a creamer texture and sweeter tasting meat. Sorry Canada, Maine and Europe but the fact is that your clawed lobsters are actually considered as 2nd rate compared to these puppies. And here they swim to shore nine months out of the year (free from the sea) and to lobster aquaculture they are literally swimming gold. From this size small size a 'Tiger' lobster can, in less than 24 months, grow to over 1 kilo (1,000grams) and be worth over 2,800php per kilo (1,000gram) when sold to the lobster buyers.
Panulirus
'ornatus' (Tiger lobster) Pigment-puerulus early latent stage
This is the floating 'light' trap which I designed, and so far have built the bamboo frames for five units which will be deployed this Spring in the waters off Dinagat Island. I have chose a location within a short walking distance from the township of Cagdianao which is one of many collection hot-spots here in the Philippines. I intend to use various types, unit styles and methodologies when deployed. This is to help determine both effectiveness and optimum water depths to deploy these collectors and traps. If the deployment of these devices and methods prove successful, then it is my hope that this collaboration with the university and fishery departments will network allowing local small scale fishermen to use this knowledge to generate much needed revenue streams; while helping to also provide easier access and more abundance to healthy seedlings for their lobster grow-out operations.
The platform is constructed of bamboo and deployed generally in areas at a water depth of less than 9 meters. Nylon cord is tied to the bottom of the frame and suspend bundles of netting (1 meter apart) down to the seafloor. The platforms I built each suspend five lines of net bundles. These are deployed during the 'New Moon' cycles when the Pueruli are swimming to shore under the cover of darkness. You can see by the drawing that suspended in the center of the frame is a lamp.
This lamp can be fuel, battery or electric and is centered over the floating platform to help attract the incoming swimming Pueruli to the suspended bundle traps. Researchers have learned that the primary settlement of Pueruli are within 2 meters of the surface and 2 meters of the sea floor. The Pueruli are naturally drawn to the light source similar to that of a common moth. The light attracts the Pueruli directly under the platform where the suspended mesh bundles then entice them to settle within the bundled netting. These are harvested around midnight and at sunrise. The traps are deployed before dusk and collected after dawn when they are harvested. One advantage with these units is once they are deployed the fishermen can continue fishing and only has to attend to the unit to replenish fuel for the lamps or late-night harvesting.
The drawing of mine bellow shows the second prototype which I will be building over the next couple of months. These style of collector is known as a Vietnam style 'Coconut Log' Puerulus Trap. I will be building 5 of these units at first, I may have as many as 50 of these units in the water by the end of the year. My first 'coconut log' units will be deploying in the same general location were I will be using the floating 'light' traps. Over the next couple of years I will use five 'floating light traps' and the five 'coconut log traps' in the same general area in a cluster. Then as these units are built and added they will form another cluster in another location. By locating these clusters in many locations and maintaining records throughout the season, over several seasons, trends can be observed. These trends will help determine best locations and water depths in which to deploy them.
These units will be durable, inexpensive and easy to make and are permanently anchored to the sea floor during the whole of the collection season (9 months). These placed in locations with a minimum water depth of 2 meters, which means boat propellers have clearance and units can therefore remain stationary year around. These log traps are harvested each morning at daybreak during the collection season, this is because lobsters are nocturnal and will seek sheltering before sunlight. The floating 'light'' traps are more complex to deploy and use which restricts their usage for many poorer fishermen, but the 'coconut log traps are extremely low cost and being permanently located in the shallows allows poorer fishermen to build and maintain them. I have yet found any credible documentation showing the average yearly collection numbers capable of either trap type. What I have found says they were successful at collecting Pueruli, but not documented yearly results. My curiosity drives me to find out for myself, because if both types prove to be productive it could be a huge benefit to rural fishing communities.
This photo shows a Vietnam style 'Coconut Log' trap in usage, and actually shows several Puerulus who have settled in the shallow holes. You can see that they back into the hole and use their antenna to monitor the conditions outside of their newly settled habitats. If you look closely at the lower photo you can see their antenna protruding from the holes. Just those three Puerulus could easily net that fisherman 600php, and if he has 4 traps or more which each had 3 tenets to collect that fisherman would have collected a potential 2,400php that morning. One could then see the benefit such a simple device could have on a small-scale pueruli/juvenile fisherman and his family, but this would also benefit as it would allow commerce to small coastline communities. These Philippines has over 14,000 kilometers of coastlines with a huge number of small rural areas. I venture that most members of this forum have family members who are almost solely dependent on the sea, and such a simple venture would require very little venture capital for a start-up.
As my study expands over the next few years I will also start deploying several other Pueruli trap types and methods, but I feel these two mentioned above may be the most promising to start with. I am excited to start this little venture because perhaps it will allow me to gain answers to question that I have had for years. I promise that I will openly share any knowledge I gain with forum members, so you can share it with others.