Darden Aquafarm sets sight on lobster business

The Orlando-based Darden Aquafarm Inc, which is part of a chain of Red Lobster restaurants in the US, has a firm eye on Brunei and a few other countries in large scale commercial lobster farming.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) held between the Brunei's fisheries department, ministry of industry and primary resources and Darden Aqua farm Inc last month, saw the initial implementation of research and development projects on lobsters in Brunei waters and to explore the potential of producing lobsters on a commercial scale.

Darden Aquafarm Inc also is working in Malaysia and has also been involved with a lobster aquaculture project in the Turks and Caicos Island in the Caribbean. Darden has a five-year extension of a permit to continue lobster-raising research that started two years ago, Orland Sentinel reported.

Rich Jeffers, Darden spokesman said the company eventually hopes to become a supplier to its own business, saying it is the beginning of a process that would take years.

Darden Aquafarm Inc, along with inventors from Florida Atlantic University, has applied for a patent that would collect young "seed lobsters" to raise. Lobster limiting is becoming necessary because of increased pressure on lobster supplies.

The company has been involved with numerous research projects, including Brunei, aimed at improving lobster fisheries around the world and says its work with lobster farming will help make those wild populations more stable.

Hurdles include figuring out how to feed the lobsters, which are "voracious eaters", said Tom Matthews, a lobster biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Another problem is a fatal, contagious lobster disease called PaV1, which tends to spread in aquafarms. It is particularly difficult to raise lobsters from eggs and is not a commercial endeavour at this point," he added.