ACIAR-SPC Asia-Pacific

Tropical Sea Cucumber

Aquaculture Symposium

15-17 February 2011

PROCEEDINGS:

Asia–Pacific tropical sea cucumber aquaculture
Proceedings of an international symposium held in Noumea, New Caledonia, 15–17 February 2011
Editors: Cathy A. Hair, Timothy D. Pickering and David J. Mills

The global potential of sea cucumber aquaculture - by A. Lovatelli

Overview of sea cucumber aquaculture and stocking research in the Western Pacific region - by R. Jimmy

Overview of sea cucumber aquaculture and stocking research in the South-East Asian region - by D. Mills et al.

Large-scale production of sandfish for pond culture in Vietnam - by N.D.Q. Duy et al.

In vitro fertilization of sea cucumbers, a new method to boost aquaculture production - by I. Eeckhaut

Ocean nursery systems for scaling-up juvenile sandfish (Holothuria scabra) production: ensuring opportunities for small fishers - by A. Menez et al.

Small-scale hatcheries and simple technologies for sandfish production - by R. Gamboa et al.

Sandfish production and development of sea ranching in northern Australia - by W. Bowman

Hatchery experience and useful lessons from Isostichopus fuscus in Ecuador and Mexico - by A. Mercier & J.-F. Hamel

Summary of Day 2 group discussions on sandfish sea farming and ranching, and resource tenure issues

Day 2 - Presentations:

Principles and science of stocking sea cucumbers into the sea - by S. Purcell

New Caledonia sandfish grow-out in earthen ponds - by N. Agudo

Pond farming and co-culture options in Vietnam- by D. Mills & M.D.Q. Duy

Establishment and management of communal sandfish (Holothuria scabra): sea ranching in the Philippines- by A. Menez

Sandfish production and sea ranching trial in Fiji - by C. Hair

Development of sea cucumber farming as an alternative livelihood in SW Madagascar - by G. Robinson & B. Pascal

Sea ranching in an Indigenous community within a heavily regulated fishery (Australia) - by A. Fleming

Marine tenure and the role of MPAs for sandfish grow-out in the Pacific - by S. Meo et al.

Pacific ownership and management of sea cucumber stocks (using data and observations from SPC ProcFish surveys) - by K. Pakoa

Day 3 - Presentations:

Marketing sea cucumber in southeast Asia:  challenges and opportunities - by M. Perez

Pacific Islands region sea cucumber and beche de mer market analysis - by T. Simos

Processing cultured tropical sea cucumbers into export product: issues and opportunities - by S. Purcell & N.D.Q. Duy

Ecological and social considerations for an expanding sea cucumber farming industry - by H. Eriksson

Sea cucumber markets in the world: Hong Kong, Guangzhou and New York - by J. Akamine

Decision making tools and their role in sandfish aquaculture development - by B. Johnston

• Sandfish hatchery nursery model

• Sandfish pond model

• Sandfish ranching model

• Vietnam sandfish model

The Asia-Pacific tropical sea cucumber aquaculture symposium has been held from 15-17 February 2011 at the Jacques Iekawé Conference Centre, SPC headquarters, Promenade Roger Laroque, Anse Vata, Nouméa, New Caledonia. Organising agencies for the Symposium are the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).

The Symposium was an ACIAR initiative that focused on the current status of research on tropical sea cucumber aquaculture, covering a range of topics such as:

• recent advances in hatchery production technology,
• release strategies, farming techniques,
• management practices,
• post-harvest technologies for value adding,
• supply chains and marketing.

The Symposium identified gaps in current knowledge and generated recommendations for future research to support development of sustainable tropical sea cucumber aquaculture. Symposium proceedings have been published following the meeting and are available from the ACIAR website ( pdf 8.5 MB: http://aciar.gov.au/files/node/14423/pr136_asia_pacific_tropical_sea_cucumber_aquacu_10936.pdf ).

This Symposium has provided a valuable opportunity to bring together key participants who are actively engaged in progressing tropical sea cucumber culture technology and developing its potential to deliver benefits to coastal communities.

Requests for further information about the Symposium should be emailed to: Ms Cathy Hair.