Processing and its impacts on proximate composition and fatty acid profile of six sea cucumber species; and sp. 1 collected from the northwest coast of Sri Lanka were analyzed. Sea cucumbers are processed into -- by both domestic and industrial level processors following the similar steps of cleaning, evisceration, first boiling, salting, second boiling and drying. However, domestically processed -- always reported a higher percentage of moisture, crude ash, crude fat and lower percentage of crude protein than industrially processed products. Although processing resulted in a significant reduction of total SFA and MUFA in fresh individuals of most of these species, total PUFA increased significantly in processed individuals excluding species. Palmitic acid was found to be the most dominant fatty acid in all these species followed by eicosapentaenoic acid, which showed a significant increase in processed products, except sp. 1. Total MUFA were higher than total SFA in all sea cucumber species having exceptions in sp.1 and fresh These findings will make a significant contribution to fill the gaps in existing information as no any previous information is available for species like and.

Sea cucumber fishing pattern and the social and economic characteristics of sea cucumber fisher communities in the north, north-west and north-east regions of Sri Lanka were assessed using the data collected from November 2015 to January 2017. A total of 9 sea cucumber species is landed in these areas using three fishing methods; diving (SCUBA and breath-hold), gleaning and surrounding nets. SCUBA diving is the dominant fishing method and SCUBA divers do both day and night fishing reporting the highest catch rates (CPUE ± SD in numbers/person/day) than the other fishers (p < 0.05; ANOVA). Gleaning is entirely carried out by fisherwomen in the northern region whereas 28 surrounding nets are used targeting low-value Stichopus naso. CPUE found to be varied with respect to species, region and fishing method (p < 0.05; ANOVA). Bohadschia vitiensis made the highest percentage contribution (61.3%) to the total sea cucumber landings during the study period. Among all fishers, SCUBA divers reported the highest average net monthly income. Men play a dominant role in sea cucumber fishing (98%), processing (99%) and marketing (100%). Fishermen in the age range of 25–67 yr, having only primary education mainly involved in the sea cucumber industry. The sea cucumber value chain consists of fishers (∼2000), middlemen (12), processors (16) and exporters (7). A significant increase in overall price development from fishers to the exporters was reported for all 9 species (p < 0.05; ANOVA). Fishers received a proportionally higher share of the end-market price mainly for low-value Bohadschia spp. Although fishers receive disproportionately low returns compared to other value chain players, 47.8% of fishers showed high satisfaction towards the prices they received from buyers. However, 83.6% of fishers are not satisfied with existing management measures. Apart from strengthening the existing management measures, this information is important to update the regional and global sea cucumber statistics.

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Bêche-de-mer (dried sea cucumbers) is considered as one of the most luxurious seafood in the world. The market demand for bêche-de-mer mainly depends on species and product quality. This study is aimed at assessing the effect of different processing methods on the product quality and nutritional composition of bêche-de-mer. Three sea cucumber species, Stichopus naso, Holothuria spinifera, and Bohadschia vitiensis, dominant in the commercial catches of Sri Lanka, were processed by following widely practiced local processing methods where 24, 48, and 24 different processing combinations were tested for each species, respectively. Bêche-de-mer satisfying the export quality were selected by considering their appearance and overall ranking made by exporters (9 individuals per each combination). The proximate composition of these products was assessed using standard methods. According to the exporters’ prioritization, very few processing methods used in this study resulted in the export-quality bêche-de-mer. Both product quality and proximate composition showed considerable variations with respect to the processing methods. It is proved that even a very small change in one processing step could lead to produce poor-quality products. Processing methods are species specific, and it is important to select the most appropriate method for each species to produce high-quality bêche-de-mer.