Hand Caught
Being hand caught our Ornatus Lobsters have the smallest catching footprint of any lobsters from Australia and globally. There are no pots, no traps, no nets, no rope entanglements or even bait introduced to the natural environment, only specialist divers hand picking each lobster one by one from the ocean floor.
It is a fishery rooted in both science and indigenous tradition built on a deep respect for the ocean. Annual quotas are set each year using 35 years of scientific dive surveys and biological modelling.
Resource Protection
The Australian and PNG lobster fishery is a separate population of the P. Ornatus specie distinct from other global populations including from South East Asia and China. The fishery is internationally recognised for its sustainable management practices supervised by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority utilising scientific surveys and biological modelling conducted by CSIRO to set annual quotas.
The fishery benefits from the world's longest-running annual scientific dive survey (35 years). Panulirus ornatus is classified as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Torres Strait population is assessed as healthy and close to pristine levels.
Community
Our commitment to sustainability extends to the communities in which we operate. The catching of Ornatus, or “Kaiar” as it is known locally, has been part of the culture of the Indigenous people of the Torres Strait for thousands of years, and today remains the principal income for hundreds of Torres Strait Islander families. As the largest producer in the region MG Kailis supports not only many Indigenous fishers, but also secondary post harvest businesses directly employing many Torres Strait and Cape York indigenous staff across its fishing and processing operations.