Sandfish hatchery techniques

Abstract

Sandfish is arguably the most commercially valuable of the tropical species of sea cucumber that are processed into bêche-de-mer. It is widely distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific, occurring in shallow inshore areas where it is easily accessible to coastal fishers. A-grade bêche-de-mer processed from sandfish commands some of the highest prices on the international market. But these same attributes also make it vulnerable to overexploitation. Sadly, this has happened in most places where it occurs. While sandfish was an important component of bêche-de-mer fisheries 20 to 30 years ago, its contribution to bêche-de-mer exports is now relatively small, even trivial.Not surprisingly, there is widespread interest in restoring the production of sandfish, especially where it promises to deliver benefits to coastal fishing communities with few other options for earning livelihoods. it promises to deliver benefits to coastal fishing communities with few other options for earning livelihoods. This manual is designed to help government agencies and members of the private sector interested in implementing ways of increasing production of sandfish by outlining the basic methods for spawning and rearing juvenile sandfish. It builds on the pioneering work done in 1988 at the Tuticorin Research Centre of CMFRI (Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute) in India and is based largely on methods developed and applied by the WorldFish Center (formerly ICLARM) in Solomon Islands, Vietnam and New Caledonia.