White Teatfish sea cucumber in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Credit: Steve Purcell
Researchers are calling for better protection of tropical ocean cucumbers in the Great Barrier Reef whose numbers are dwindling due to persistent and increasing overharvesting.
New research reveals that overharvesting has put the Great Barrier Reef ‘s tropical sea cucumber populations in endanger, with firm demand for this delicacy from East and Southeast Asia .
several kinds of sea cucumber are harvested, chiefly for chinese pulmonary tuberculosis. The ball-shaped market for sea cucumbers is estimated to be worth over USD $ 200 million per annum.
Published in Biological Conservation, the inquiry was led by a team from the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland .
“ Known as the earthworms or vacuums of the sea, ocean cucumbers are critical for witwatersrand health, helping keep the seafloor clean and fat, ” said Dr. Maria Byrne, Professor of Marine Biology from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney .
“ abundant sea cucumber populations on unfished reefs process tons of lagoon sediments annually through their body—they are the scavenge backbone solution .
“ These animals are in queer globally and their crop on the Great Barrier Reef is of great concern .
“ Fishery datum collected along Australia ‘s primary sea cucumber fish land on the Reef has shown the need for circumspection and regulative changes .
“ The Great Barrier Reef is home to 10 of the worldly concern ‘s 16 endangered or vulnerable sea cucumber species. The data shows populations of some of the highest-valued species have been dwindling due to increasing and dogged global overharvest .
Teatfish in particular peril
One fast-disappearing group of tropical sea cucumbers, known as teatfish, is of particular concern .
Teatfish are listed on CITES ( Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ), which provides a impregnable footing to restrict their reap and export. Yet two of these species, the blank teatfish and black teatfish, represented more than 20 percentage of the Queensland fishery ‘s late total hitch .
Populations of teatfish are most at risk because of their gamey marketplace value and poor reproduction. The individuals that remain on the reef fail to find a mate ascribable to fishery removal .
“ Black teatfish numbers have not recovered since their fishery was closed in 1999 due to overharvest—although the fishery reopened in 2019, ” said Dr. Kenny Wolfe from the University of Queensland.
“ In December 2021 we saw a irradiate of promise, when the federal Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley supported the CITES list, and in recognition of their parlous department of state determined that black teatfish harvest would not be permitted .
“ It ‘s a great winnings for one of our 10 endangered or vulnerable ocean cucumbers, but farther policy interventions are needed to ensure other ocean cucumber populations do n’t start teetering toward extinction, ” he said .
Greater government protection needed
Professor Byrne said effective statutory regulation was essential for protecting sea cucumbers .
“ The Great Barrier Reef sea cucumber fishery has hanker been operating under what ‘s known as a non-regulatory—and consequently a non-binding—Performance Measurement System .
“ This system recommended regular appraisal of ocean cucumber stocks, but these were n’t done, so industry has been operating for decades without any real idea of the impingement of their harvests on stock sustainability .
“ Going advancing it will be substantive to have a statutory regulated and enforced policy framework for regular fishery independent stock assessments for all tropical sea cucumber species harvested on the Great Barrier Reef .
“ only then would we be able to assess what is a sustainable harvest and identify species-specific interventions, hopefully avoiding local anesthetic extinction of these ecologically authoritative ocean cucumber species on the Great Barrier Reef .
“ This is substantive for the health of the reef and provides an important contribution to meeting the australian and Queensland Governments ‘ reef 2050 plan, ensuring the UNESCO “ at-risk ” condition of the Great Barrier Reef is avoided, and for Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to meet its latest sustainable Fisheries Strategy. ”
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More information:
Kennedy Wolfe et al, Overview of the Great Barrier Reef sea cucumber fishery with focus on vulnerable and endangered species, Biological Conservation (2022). Journal information:
Biological Conservation
Kennedy Wolfe et aluminum, Overview of the Great Barrier Reef sea cucumber fishery with focus on vulnerable and queer species, ( 2022 ). department of the interior : 10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109451 Citation : Endangered fragility : tropical sea cucumbers in trouble ( 2022, February 11 ) retrieved 16 March 2022 from hypertext transfer protocol : //heyreviewfood.com/news/2022-02-endangered-delicacy-tropical-sea-cucumbers.html
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