CULTURE OF SEA CUCUMBERS IN KOREA: A guide to Korean methods and the local sea cucumber in the Northeast U.S.

Sea cucumbers are a valuable fishery around the globe. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated the global production from both aquaculture and capture fisheries to be 153,183 metric tonnes in 2011 (FAO 2013a). Of that production, roughly 85% is the Japanese sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (1). Sea cucumbers are developed into a variety of products including dried muscle, fermented guts, and dried gonads (FAO 2013b). Wild stocks have been heavily fished in many areas around the world. As a result of overfishing, sea cucumber culture techniques have been developed for variety of species. Hatchery production has centered in the Pacific Rim and is used both as a source of juveniles for various culture activities and for stock enhancement and restoration efforts. Currently hatchery production exists for approximately a dozen different tropical and temperate species (Purcell et al. 2012, Table 1).

Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) efforts in northeastern North America have focused on various combinations of fish, shellfish, and algae. Sea cucumbers have been proposed as one potential species that could be added as a consumer of benthic deposits. Within the Gulf of Maine, the predominate sea cucumber species, Cucumaria frondosa (2), has been fished commercially in Maine since 1990. Landings peaked in 2004 with a harvest of just over 10 million pounds (ME DMR 2013). The value of the fishery in Maine fluctuated between $66,000 and $562,000 from 1994 until the peak in 2004. The price per pound has more than tripled since the peak harvest in 2004. The economic value for the Maine fishery is based on the boat price paid to fishermen, and does not represent the significant increase in value that occurs with processing into various final consumer products.

Sea cucumbers from the Maine fishery traditionally have gone to the Asian food market, however the potential for various nutraceuticals may represent a higher value use. For example, trials are underway to examine the potential for Frondoside A, a compound extracted from C. frondosa, to treat cancer (Attoub et al. 2013). At least one company in the region is processing sea cucumbers for the extraction of various nutraceuticals.

A recent review of the potential for culture of C. frondosa in the Northeast (Nelson et al. 2012a) highlighted advantages and challenges for commercial culture of this species, in particular under IMTA. Strengths include an existing market for the product with good potential for increased nutraceutical use, a well-understood reproductive biology (especially for populations in the St. Laurence River area), and evidence that C. frondosa would be a suitable species for integration in IMTA farms as a benthic filter feeder. Culture of this species faces several challenges. These include a relatively low market price, even when the fishery was at its peak, due to the thinner muscle wall, a long grow-out period, and a lack of published techniques for culturing this species.