Yam Island
Badu Island
Thursday Island
Warraber Islet
Poruma Island
Masig Island
Mabuiag Island
Torres Strait
Rich in history, heritage, community and culture, the Torres Strait’s tropical waters are abundant in sea life, including with our tropical rock lobster.
The Torres Strait – home of wild caught tropical rock lobster
The Torres Strait is a collection of over 200 tropical islands, of which only 17 are inhabited. There are five major island groups within the Torres Strait, each with their own cultural heritage, language, beliefs and practices. The Torres Strait is without doubt, one of the most unique fisheries in the world, producing an abundance of the finest spiny lobster. Home to over 4,500 people, the Tropical Rock Lobster industry is a significant and important source of income, providing employment and opportunity to many families in the region.
We have respectfully built long lasting partnerships with many locally owned businesses and fishermen over many decades, helping them to develop infrastructure and foster opportunities to build a sustainable income. Working alongside local communities, fishermen and businesses, we are committed to growing the industry and playing our part in maintaining the prosperity it provides, whilst respecting the pristine environment in which we operate.
Our operation
Waiben (Thursday) Island
Thursday Island has been the administrative center of the Torres Strait since 1877 and has the biggest population of all the Torres Strait Islands. It is the production and logistics hub for Tropical Rock Lobster in the Straits. This is the location of MG Kailis’ major production facility in the region.
Warraber (Sue) Island
Warraber is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful islands in the world, and we have been sourcing lobster from here for 15 years through partnership with Macoy Enterprise, a 100% Torres Strait Islander owned business. They have built an outstanding facility with holding tanks on the shoreline, allowing fishermen in the community to easily unload their catch.
Poruma (Coconut) Island
Poruma is also in the Central Islands. It is a picturesque island with close links to Warraber. We receive lobster from Caroline Enterprises, a 100% Torres Strait Islander owned business. Their factory and holding tanks are ideally placed on the shoreline and provide great service to fishermen in the community.
Iama (Yam) Island
Iama is one of the largest lobster production islands in the Torres Strait, with fishermen catching lobster in high volumes from Dungeness and Warrior reefs. Fishermen often camp out on Tudu Island for days at a time to be close to the fishing grounds. The people and fishermen on this island have close links to PNG, in particular to Daru and the other Western Province treaty villages.
We have partnered closely here with Erumia Enterprises, a 100% Torres Strait Islander owned business for many years, and through them provided jobs and income to fishermen on this remote island.
Badu
Badu, Mabuiag and Moa Islands are part of the Western Island Group. The western fishing grounds around these islands and to the north of Mabuiag are historically one of the most important areas for Tropical Rock Lobster fishing in the Straits. We’ve been sourcing from fishermen from these islands throughout our 30 year history of operating in Torres Strait.
Mabuiag
Mabuiag is one of the highest production islands in Torres Strait, with the reefs to the North consistently providing some of the best catch numbers in the entire region.
Masig (Yorke) Island
Masig is also part of the central islands with a rich cultural fishing history.
