Group Coordinator and Bulletin Editor
Production
Pacific Community, Fisheries Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems Division, Information Section, SPC, BP D5, 98848 Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia.
Produced with financial assistance from the Australian Government, the European Union, France and the New Zealand Aid Programme.
Editorial
The 34th issue of the Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin includes, as always, a considerable amount of information on the biology, ecology and bio-management of sea cucumbers.
In the first article, Chantal Conand and co-authors describe the process used and the results obtained in an assessment of sea cucumber species for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List; 16 threatened species, out of 377 known aspidochirotids examined, are presented.
The second article comes from Fiji. Watisoni Lalavanua and colleagues undertook a sea cucumber assessment survey in Batiki District in October 2012. The results indicate that the sea cucumber fishery there is under stress from overexploitation and requires effective management.
Pablo Navarro and co-authors provide some information on beche-de-mer activities at Pulau Misa, a small island in Indonesia’s Flores Sea. The people from Pulau Misa carry out a semi-traditional sea cucumber fishery.
Katrin Lampe-Ramdoo and colleagues assessed holothurian diversity, abundance and distribution in the shallow lagoons of Mauritius. The authors surveyed many transects at various sites and recorded more than 7,000 holothurians, three-quarters of which are of commercial importance.
Maevel Romero and Jérome Cabansag present some data about the diversity and sexual maturity of sea cucumbers in the mangroves of Babatngon in Leyte Province, Philippines. They identified five species, some of them characterised through gonad measurements.
Plotieau and co-authors characterised the mineral and organic features of the sediment in sea pens where Holothuria scabra individuals were farmed. They analysed the total organic carbon fraction, the abundance of five minerals and several organic parameters of the sediment in four villages in Madagascar.
Belbachir and colleagues assessed the selective feeding behaviour of four aspidochirotid holothurians: Holothuria sanctori, H. forskali, H. poli and H. tubulosa. The results show that some species are more selective than others.
Mercedes González-Wangüemert and colleagues assessed the occurrence of Carapus acus in six sea cucumber species from the Mediterranean Sea and northeastern Atlantic Ocean. They provide some new insights into the relationship between the fish and their holothurian hosts.
Chantal Conand and co-authors present 2012 beche-de-mer trade statistics from Hong Kong. Peru, Fiji, USA and Yemen appear to be huge producers. Steve Purcell and co-authors also expose a range of “new” product forms for tropical sea cucumbers from a variety of locations.
A list of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association presentations on holothurians, new books and future conferences are presented at the end of this issue. Ajith Kumara informs us about a recent training workshop on artificial breeding and larval rearing of Holothuria scabra in Sri Lanka, Jean Ruffez reports that sea cucumber harvesting still kills scuba divers, and Alexandre Ziegler provides a history of the Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin, and various authors report on natural breeding and juvenile observations.
Contents
Conand C., Polidoro B. (pdf: 99 KB)
Lalavanua W., Tuinasavusavu I., Seru P. (pdf: 212 KB)
Navarro P.G., García-Sanz S., Conand C. (pdf: 345 KB)
Lampe-Ramdoo K., Moothien Pillay R., Conand C. (pdf: 579 KB)
Romero M.M., Cabansag J.B.P. (pdf: 153 KB)
Plotieau T., Lepoint G., Baele J.-M., Tsiresy G., Rasolofonirina R., Lavitra T., Eeckhaut I. (pdf: 517 KB)
Belbachir N., Mezali K., Soualili D.L. (pdf: 1 MB)
González-Wangüemert M., Maggi C., Valente S., Martínez-Garrido J., Vasco Rodrigues N. (pdf: 216 KB)
Purcell S.W., Choo P.S., Akamine J., Fabinyi M. (pdf: 657 KB)