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Kosrae crab farming project taking off
The mangrove crab farming pilot project, kicked off three years ago in the island state of Kosrae with a start-up investment of more than US$ 100 000, is beginning to show signs of getting off the ground, but not without setbacks.
Operated by the Department of Land, Agriculture and Fisheries, the project has already earned Kosrae some revenue from the sale of crabs to Guam. Experts are concerned, however, that the state's crab brood stocks might be dwindling.
Meanwhile, crabs from the sole active farming pond in Tofol are increasing in popularity, and orders from Guam are on the rise. Crab harvesters are paid between US$ 1.75 and US$2.00 per pound, depending on the crab's size, and the state can make hefty profits by selling them to Guam at around US$ 8.00 per pound. After packaging and marketing, the resource could fetch up to US$ 10.00 per pound. Project coordinator Rey Manlapaz believes that, within the next quarter, Kosrae will be earning profits from crab sales.
The pilot project was originally planned as a three-pond crab farm, with a breeding capacity of 5 000 or more crabs per pond. But the Kosrae Island Resource Management Authority (KIRMA) approved only two ponds in 2002, only one of which is operational to date. Soil build-ups, crab mortality rates, the appearance of freshwater eels (which compete with crabs for food), and the shortage of juvenile crabs in Kosrae's mangrove forests are just some of the factors undermining the project's success.
Demand is high, though, and experts are worried that there will not be enough crabs to meet this demand through June, at which time construction of a crab hatchery in the Lelu-based Aquaculture Centre, funded in part by crab sales, will be completed. For the time being, ponds are being stocked with crabs from the Utwe, Lelu and Tafunsak mangrove forests, causing concern among locals wanting to protect stocks.
KIRMA project coordinator Moses Palik, who believes that the project as it stands is not sustainable, says it will be good if the project is managed properly in the future. He believes that taking crabs from the wild will deplete wild stocks and hurt the ecology of the forests. KIRMA licensing policies, however, stipulate that ten per cent of the pond-raised crabs must be used to restock mangrove forests.
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