The holothuria, a prized resource to preserve - French Polynesia
The sea cucumber is a sought-after resource in the Asian market (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore). In French Polynesia, a commercial exploitation was established in 2008 by a local operator
Quickly, the exploitation intensified from 3 tons exported in 2008 to 28 tons in 2009, then 56 tons in 2010, 125 tons in 2011, and 126 tons in 2012.
Faced with overfishing and waste of the resource, French Polynesia regulated the fishing of sea cucumbers in 2012 by requiring commercial fishing permits from the DRM (Maritime Affairs Directorate).
Today, the export of high-value commercial sea cucumbers Holothuria fuscogilva and Holothuria withmaei, targeted by fishermen, is prohibited without justification of a non-detrimental finding (see Annex II of CITES on August 28, 2020). However, due to the lack of sufficient fisheries data on these species, the DRM is currently unable to comply with CITES requirements.
In June 2023, as part of the PROTEGE project, a stock assessment mission was conducted on Apataki atoll, formerly a sea cucumber producer, to gather data on the 5 species authorized for commercial fishing, as well as H. atra and T. anax, which are missing data. These results will enable French Polynesia to exploit these species sustainably, and for the Holothuria fuscogilva and Holothuria withmaei species, which can no longer be exported, to acquire scientific data that can be used to draft a non-detrimental finding request to be submitted to the CITES scientific authorities, allowing them to formulate an opinion on whether or not to market these species internationally.
Copyright photos: CréOcean
