Aquaculture of sea cucumbers

Aquaculture means the sea cucumbers are farmed in contained areas where they can be cultured in a controlled manner.

In China, sea cucumbers are cultured, along with prawns and some fish species, in integrated multi-trophic systems.

In this manner, what would otherwise be polluting byproducts from the culture of the other species become a valuable resource that is turned into a marketable product.

[2] In recent years Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, Maldives, Solomon Islands and Vietnam have also successfully cultured H. scabra using the same technology, which has since been expanded to other species.

Sea cucumbers are fed with a paste made from freshly collected algae added to the tanks once a week to settle on sand where they feed.

If water conditions are not right and if proper food is not provided sea cucumbers will eviscerate or re-absorb their gonads rendering them unfit for spawning.

Spawning stimulation can also be achieved through lightly drying the broodstock followed by exposure to a powerful jet of seawater.

[4] During this phase they are fed on a mix of planktonic microalgae (Rhodomonas salina, Chaetoceros calcitrans, C. mulleri, Isochrysis galbana and Pavlova lutheri are most commonly used).

[2] Two sea cucumber species Thelenota ananas (prickly redfish) and Stichopus chloronotus (greenfish) have been found capable of asexual propagation through transverse fission,[7] the process whereby an organism is cut in half and completely regenerates the missing half.

[7] Though this technique is not suitable for all sea cucumber species, it may provide a cheaper and faster alternative method of obtaining prickly redfish and greenfish for aquaculture.

Their presence in the bottoms of the pens or nets, where they feed on debris composed of feces, excess food, algae, and other particulate organic matter, significantly reduces fouling of water and equipment.