Sea Cucumbers

Across the five regions, the scale of catches and the number of exploited species varies widely, the Asian and Pacific regions being those with the highest catches and species diversity. Most fisheries are multispecific, or have evolved from single-species to multispecies fisheries as the more valuable species became overexploited. There are many typologies of sea cucumber fisheries, ranging from artisanal, to semi-industrial and industrial. The bulk of the catches are exported to supply the Asian baeche-de-mer market, with China Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) the main export destination for the totality of countries reviewed. With the exception of some stocks in the temperate areas of the northern hemisphere, sea cucumber stocks are underintense fishing throughout the world. In Latin America and the Caribbean it appears that high valued commercial species have been depleted. In the majority of the countries reviewed in the Africa and Indian Ocean region stocks are overfished. Likewise inthe Asian Pacific region the most sought-after species are largely depleted.