Sea cucumber farming changing lives of Filipino communities

They are not a vegetable or fruit, but a marine animal related to starfish and sea urchins. They are highly valued as a prestigious dried seafood in Asian cuisine.

Sea cucumbers, so-called for their resemblance to cucumbers, may seem ordinary marine animals, but they can fetch up to US$1,600 per kilogram when processed and dried. Sea cucumbers are also highly valued for their perceived nutraceutical value and use in traditional medicine. Some studies have reported that sea cucumber consumption may help deter the aging of muscles and improve immunity. Recently, sea cucumbers have gained increased attention as a source of high-quality marine collagen, offering an alternative to mammalian collagen.

Such is the demand for sea cucumbers over recent decades that natural stocks have been depleted globally due to overfishing, illegal trading, and poor fisheries management. Coastal communities, particularly in tropical countries that depend on them for livelihood, have felt the impact of the loss of wild sourced sea cucumbers, not just on their reduced incomes but also within their marine environment.

Research teams from UP-MSI and UniSC have also identified more suitable areas for hatcheries and sea ranches, using cheaper and more locally accessible hatchery production materials, minimising impacts of predators on sandfish stocks, and improving post-harvest processing methods. The project also supports the Philippine Government’s research and development programs to improve the fisheries sector in the country.

‘What we have been developing is a community-based sandfish culture management system for smallholder fishers. Sandfish mariculture is a relatively new technology, a solution to help increase, improve the quality of, and manage sandfish stocks,’ said Professor Meñez.

‘We are simulating what’s happening in nature. We produce the sandfish larvae and juveniles in a hatchery and then grow them to an appropriate size for release into the sea, improving their probability of survival.’

Through an earlier project funded by the Philippines Government’s Department of Science and Technology, the UP-MSI developed the ‘floating hapa’ technology, composed of mesh net enclosures that serve as ocean nurseries for growing sandfish juveniles. This technology was further improved and expanded with support from ACIAR.

While knowledge about hatchery and later-stage grow-out methods have significantly developed over the years, community-based sea cucumber farming of the juvenile sea cucumbers needs to be further strengthened.

In partnership with Guiuan Development Foundation, Inc (GDFI), the Department of Agriculture - Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region 8, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center/Aquaculture Department and Mindanao State University Naawan, community-based sea ranches have been established at 8 sites across Pangasinan, Zambales, Iloilo, Eastern Samar, and Misamis Oriental provinces. A sea ranch is a protected area of about 5 hectares of inshore waters where sea cucumbers can be safely grown, maintained and harvested.

‘There is science in all aspects of sandfish production – from the hatchery to their release to the sea ranches. The animal tends to stay in the general area of release and so can be left to grow to the optimal harvest size for commanding higher prices in the market,’ said Professor Meñez.

The research team has been working closely with community members to further strengthen coastal resource management, monitoring the growth and development of sea cucumbers, control of predators and poachers, and maintenance of sea ranching sites including cleaning of holding pens for small juveniles.

 ‘We did not place that much importance on sea cucumber farming before. I remember when I was young, my family would sell them so that we could have additional money for our school allowance. We used to think we could do anything with them and harvest them whenever we want. Until there came a time that almost all of the sea cucumbers were gone,’ said Ms Jessica Macawile, a fisher from Guiuan in Eastern Samar province.

‘We now know why sea cucumbers are important and why we need to preserve and protect them. We are very happy now that there are a lot of sea cucumbers again here in our community; there are even other species aside from the sandfish,’ continued Ms Macawile.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when research teams were unable to travel to project sites, community members looked after the management of the nursery and sea ranches.

Community fisher Mr Rene Ronabio explained the aims of his community.

‘We want to grow our sea ranch and we want other people to know about this area that we are protecting. We want to further promote what we are doing here so that more people will support us like the local government units and the private sector.’

The research work is showing significant results with production of increasing volumes of premium grade-size sea cucumbers as culture knowledge improves.

‘We have developed the technology but how you adapt it to other areas will depend on the opportunities and the stakeholders,’ said Professor Meñez. We know that sea cucumber farming offers good livelihood opportunities for coastal communities and that this is worth investing in. Now we are encouraging public and private partners to invest more so that the technology can be further expanded to other areas.’  

Learn more about the project via the ACIAR website.