How to Starting a Lobster Farming Business

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

How to Starting a Lobster Farming Business

The idea of raising lobster on lobster farms is becoming more and more popular as the food demand increases and people need local suppliers to meet this demand. Lobster sources in Maine and Florida are not the only place to grow this profitable crop. Here is how to start your own lobster farm to supply the local population with the seafood it craves.

Instructions:

Step 1

Choose a breed of lobster for your farm. Some breeds are more conducive to being farm raised in some parts of the country than others. For instance, spiny lobster is better in a warmer climate and environment than the cool-water Maine lobster.

Step 2

Look for a supplier of larvae. Lobster larvae are available from certain coastal regions. The spiny lobster is currently being tested for farms, and larvae are presently collected in warmer coastal regions such as Puerto Rico and southern Florida.

Step 3

Select a location for your lobster farm. Be sure you have access to good clean water and a nice flat plot to facilitate the placement of the troughs. Be sure the location is close to your supplier so you minimize loss from transport. Stay away from highly industrialized parts of the country where runoff from factories and production plants could contaminate the water in which you raise your lobster crop.

Step 4

Establish a good filtration system on your farm system. All varieties of lobster need a decent filtration system in place to keep your lobster farm from disease. Attempt to establish a passive filtration system to minimize the ecological impact of your farm as well. Supply aeration as well to ensure you have a healthy lobster crop.

Step 5

Provide a properly balanced diet to the lobster. Lobster feed is currently being developed in Norway, and farms have been generally successful in substituting cod feed.

If you want to own a lobster farm, you will need to determine the different species and pick one that you can raise comfortably. You will need to know about proper feeding and maintenance so that the lobsters will grow quickly.

Find potential clients so that you can market the lobsters with ease and earn profits.

The Opportunity

Lobsters are pricey whether you purchase them locally or in the international market. This is a highly-priced marine crustacean. These crustaceans can only be caught using gill nets and since the stocks are dependent on the catch, the price is really high. If you live in the coastal areas, you might want to invest in a lobster farm. Lobster farming is viable and lucrative so you will surely earn a lot of profits.

The Different Species

As you can see, gourmet meals will remain incomplete without the lobsters. You need to be area that lobsters have 3 species – tiger lobster, bamboo lobster, and the adik-adik lobster. The appearance of these species also varies; as the name suggests, the tiger lobsters have spotted legs while the bamboo lobsters have striped legs that appear like that of bamboos. The adik-adik is reddish black in color. If you’re into lobster farming, you can opt for the tiger or the bamboo since these are the two most common species being farmed today.

Choosing the Site

The site of the farm is vital. It should have sandy ground and temperate water current. During low tide, the water’s depth should be maintained at one meter and the water should have high salinity like marine water. You will need to construct a pen. 200 fingerlings of lobsters should be placed in a pen that is 20 sq m. If you want to monitor the lobsters easily, you can place the pen near your house. For the pen’s corners, you can use bamboo poles. Get a plastic net and enclose the bamboo. To ensure that the lobsters won’t be able to escape, the ground should also have a net. Since the pen will be encountering strong waves and current, you should construct firm walling and corners. The top portion of the pen can be covered using bamboo slats. It should have a small opening for purposes of feeding and especially for harvesting.

Stocking and Harvesting

The fingerlings should be weighed regularly. You can stock 10 lobsters weighing 150-200 grams in a 1-sq meter pen. To prevent defacing, the lobsters should be dropped carefully into the pen. Make sure that you do this when it’s high tide. Pick the one having the same sizes because these crustaceans are carnivorous. If you mix the small and large lobsters, the smaller ones can get eaten. Harvesting can be done after 6-10 months when the lobster is already 900 to 1,000 grams. You will need extra help if you maintain several pens.

Tips and Warnings

Lobsters tend to be cannibalistic, so be sure to allow enough space for development or keep them in individual troughs.

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1 comment:

Small BusinessMarch 11, 2014 at 12:06 PM
How to Starting a Lobster Farming Business, Lobster Farming, Lobster Farming Business, Starting a Lobster Farm
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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Tuesday, March 11, 2014