Review of fisheries and management of sea cucumbers in the Indian Ocean

Abstract

Several sea cucumber species (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) are fished, mostly for export of the dried product for Oriental consumers. Previous studies had analysed the historical trends at the world-scale until 2014. In the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) holothurian fisheries have a long history and several programmes have tried to ameliorate their management. Information has been recently gathered through a questionnaire and access to the most recent, yet unpublished available data (2015 to 2021) from different countries, through the evaluation of catches and/or processed product, present management systems, the imports of beche de mer and other products from Indian Ocean (IO) countries into the major market hub of Hong Kong SAR, and the Food and Agricuture Organisation (FAO) yearly statistics. The results are first presented for WIO countries, highlighting recent improvements in management. Imports from 16 WIO countries into the Hong Kong market (2017-2020 data) indicate the importance of the hub. The FAO world statistics are used to present the changes for the last few years, concentrating on the WIO countries. The recent trends show that demand for holothurians is still very high. Inconsistencies in the unit used in the reported statistics (fresh or dry weight) exist, and this needs to be addressed. The national data should be collected at the species level, to be able to follow the changes and the stock status. A regional approach is needed to encourage use of comparable management tools and follow future trends.

Food Safety Risks Posed by Heavy Metals and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) related to Consumption of Sea Cucumbers

“…The content varies and this may be attributed to species, location, as well as degree of post-harvest handling and processing. The range in concentration varied from 0.002 mg/kg dry weight (dw) in Apostichopus japonicus from South Korea [ 75 ] to 0.96 mg/kg dw in Holothuria polii from the Southern Adriatic Sea, Italy [ 33 ] though none of them exceeded the limits set by the European Commission [ 36 ], 0.5 mg/kg ww in unspecified fish muscles and fishery products, including molluscs and crustaceans. Liu et al, 2016 found organic MeHg in all samples of Apostichopus japonicus, none of the samples exceeded the limits set by the European Commission or National Standard of China GB 2762–2012 being below the maximum value allowed in non-predatory fish species of 0.5 mg/kg Met-Hg [ 41 ].…”

“…The levels in marine sediments are a consequence of in situ geochemical processes, draining from flooded soils, sewage and agricultural, tourist and industrial activities in and around the sites/locations of both harvesting and farming of sea cucumbers. Combined with a suggested lower metabolising capacity or bio-accumulation of POPs [ 32 ] and heavy metals [ 33 , 34 ], consumption of sea cucumber may have negative impacts for human consumers.…”

“…The latter MLs used as China is the prime market of sea cucumber. A similar strategy to assess food safety of sea cucumber consumption was used by Montero et al (2021), Sicuro et al (2012) and Storelli et al (2001) [26,33,38]. In addition, when both global (Codex Alimentarius) and regional (EC) MLs are missing, as for inorganic (iAs), the content of iAs in the sea cucumber are compared with the non-specific ML (Aquatic animals and products) given by NSC and the consumption rate limits (CR lim ) are calculated from the he lower end benchmark dose (BMDL) of suggested by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) expert panel [39].…”

Microplastics pollution in genetically connected populations of Holothuria forskali from south Bay of Biscay

“…According to FAO (https://www.fao.org/3/cc5230en/ cc5230en.pdf) 57,700 tonnes of wild sea cucumbers were harvested globally in the decade of 2011-2020. Tropical fisheries are the largest contributors to global catches (Conand, 2018;Conand et al, 2022), with 64 species commercialised so far. Sea cucumber prices are highly variable depending on the species, size, and origin.…”

Wild sea cucumber trade in rural Madagascar: Consequences for conservation and human welfare

“…However, these restrictions are rarely enforced, and regulations may not sufficiently protect species that reach sexual maturity before 11 cm, such as H. scabra (Conand & Muthiga, 2007; Yanti et al, 2020). Some of the most sought‐after and expensive species are threatened, including H. scabra , H. fuscogilva , and H. nobilis (Conand, 2008). Approximately 1620 tons of sea cucumbers are exported from Madagascar yearly, yet only 12% are produced by aquaculture; thus, 88% of exported products are wild caught (Rasolofonirina et al, 2003; Tridge, 2020).…”