Can hatcheries produce juvenile tropical sea cucumbers for restoration and enhancement of wild stocks?
by Stephen C. Battaglene. Australian Society for Fish Biology Annual Conference in Hobart, September 1998. In recent years, high demand for beche-de-mer has led to a dramatic decline in wild stocks of sea cucumbers. As it can take over 50 years for isolated and heavily harvested stocks to recover, poor management of sea cucumbers deprives developing countries of much needed export earnings. Release of juvenile sea cucumbers reared in hatcheries is a potential way of restoring wild stocks, and then increasing yield through stock enhancement. However, these measures are contingent on being able to produce juveniles cost-effectively. A number of attempts have been made to rear tropical sea cucumbers without success and only sandfish, Holothuria scabra, has been cultured en masse. Fortunately, sandfish is considered the best candidate for restoration and stock enhancement because it is of high value, widely distributed, relatively easy to culture, and grows rapidly at high densities on sim
