Tropical spiny lobster (Panulirus ornatus) farming in Vietnam - bioeconomics and perceived constraints to development

This paper presents bioeconomic data on lobster farming in Vietnam, and perceived constraints to the development of the industry. The farms were found to be profitable, with an average benefit cost ratio of 1.44 and an average net revenue of 262 million VND year-1 (or just under US$15 000 year-1). Investment in the enterprise is high compared with other enterprises in the region. However, disease has the potential to devastate lobster crops and there is little information available to lobster farmers about disease prevention and management. Hence, the lobster enterprise is a high-risk high-return industry. The predominant perceived constraints to the development of lobster operations include water quality and temperature issues, insufficient access to credit, good-quality affordable feed and accurate information about technology improvements in lobster farming. It seems that improving the livelihood of lobster farmers in Vietnam is dependent on reducing their dependence on wild stocks for seed and feed, improving access to credit and improving technical and market information flows. Such improvements are likely to lead to higher profitability, given high export demand and hence sustained high prices for their lobster product.