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NewsAsia, 5 Aug 05 Republic Poly students successfully breed lobsters in captivity By Pearl Forss Lobster lovers take note. Your favourite seafood may be a lot cheaper in Singapore in a few years' time. Students from the Republic Polytechnic have succeeded in cultivating lobsters in captivity, a major scientific breakthrough that could rake in over a million dollars in business ventures. Lobsters are a prized seafood and one of nature's most elusive crustaceans. Attempts at breeding them over the last few decades have not been successful, till recently. Australia succeeded in 2003, and India, just last year. But lobster farming in both countries has yet to reach a commercial scale. And the Republic Polytechnic's second-year students may well beat them to it. Trevor Lim, a student at Republic Polytechnic's School of Applied Science, said: "There are two secrets we had in cultivating the lobsters. One was the recirculation system we devised so as to simulate as closely as possible the natural habitat from which the lobsters come from. "The second was the nutrient system. Salinity levels, ammonia levels, oxygen levels, nutrient levels, we had to combine all these factors into a single thing so that when we add it to the water, it will recreate the environment of the sea." There were two main difficulties in this project, said Justin Hon, a second-year student at the Polytechnic's School of Engineering. "One is to keep the temperature at a constant, the other is feeding process. We feed them every four hours, which means we have to spend many sleepless nights to make sure they are well fed," he said. But the sleepless nights may well be worth it! "We are looking at a start-up investment of one to two million dollars, and many parties, companies are keen to explore this project," said Philip Choong, Republic Polytechnic's Specialist Consultant. "Currently we have a few local companies that we are talking to. I've also received calls from Malaysia who has expressed interest in this project," he added. Ever since the tsunami hit in December, many coral reefs around the region have been destroyed. As a result, lobster supply has gone down and prices have gone up. But if Republic Polytechnic's lobster growing project were to succeed on a large scale, then consumers might find cheaper lobsters in restaurants. Besides lobsters, the Polytechnic students are also refining the prawn cultivation process. Currently, this can be highly unstable due to uncontrollable water conditions and threats of disease. - CNA/ir. links Related articles on Wild shores on Singapore status, issues, discussions Singapore's biodiversity status, threats, commercial applications of biodiversity |
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