Magnitude of lobster resources of India

Lobsters inhabit our tropical waters in different concentrations in some parts of our coasts. The average annual catch of lobsters during the 10 year period of 1975-84 was 1763 tonnes forming 0.82% among the crustaceans and 0.12% in the total marine fish landings. Of these 73.56% was from Gujarat and Maharashtra and 19.45% from Tamil Nadu. Of the 6 species of spiny lobsters recorded, only 3 of them and one species of slipper lobster support the fishery of this country. The catches of Panulirus polyphagus and Thenus orientalis were substantial forming about 46.71% and 46.44% respectively. The catch of Panulirus homarus was poor contributing to only 5.89% while that of Panulirus ornatus was almost negligible, being 0.96%. The magnitude of the catch for P. homarus and P. ornatus is so small that they should not be exploited more than the existing rate from the present fishing grounds. Either new grounds have to be found or the population should be raised by culture practices to meet the demand of the market.