Fisheries Newsletter 1971 :- 2017

Abstract

Sea cucumbers, or beche-de-mer as we call their dried and marketable form, are todays special in this issue. Few people know that these strange looking creatures lying lazily in shallow areas of tropical waters are the targets of the second-most valuable capture-based, export fishery in the South Pacific, second only to tuna. Unfortunately, these targets have been hit so hard in recent years that several Pacific Island countries, which are among the main producers, have banned their fishing for up to 10 years, in the hope that stocks will recover.