JURIEN Bay aquaculture company Western Kingfish Ltd has been granted permission to collect 15,000 early stage juvenile lobsters as part of a commercial scale pilot trial to grow the crayfish in captivity. Western Kingfish claimed this is the first licence to collect juvenile Western Rock Lobsters for such purposes. “This aquaculture license and the ministerial exemption will now allow WKL to conduct a proper commercial scale pilot program to collect, grow and market the juvenile Western Rock Lobsters,” executive director Alan Savage said. Western Kingfish said that less than 5 per cent of the juveniles that settled on the coastal coral made their way to adulthood. The legal and fisheries management requirements are being addressed through the state government Western Rock Lobster Puerulus Aquaculture Working Group, Western Kingfish said in a statement. “When these technical and legal issues are resolved, there is the potential for establishment of a new industry that could double the annual production of lobster in Western Australia,” the company said.
