NEW SPECIES
The current state of tropical sea cucumber aquaculture: Hatcheries as looking back and beyond Beni Azari, Grisilda Walsalam, Shibu Daniel, Seacucumber Consultancy The global sea cucumber industry faces substantial challenges, primarily driven by overexploitation resulting from surging demand. Traditional consumption in Asia, along with growing nutraceutical and pharmaceutical markets, has led to severe depletion of commercially valuable sea cucumber populations worldwide. Addressing this issue, hatcheries are being recognized as sustainable solutions to ensure consistent, year-round high-quality juvenile production. While temperate sea cucumber hatcheries have been in operation for over 50 years, primarily focusing on cold-water species Stichopus japonicus, tropical and other sea cucumber species are in recent development. Sea cucumber aquaculture has made significant strides, particularly in the diversification of species being farmed. Among five commonly farmed species, Holothuria scabra (Sandfish) holds tropical prominence due to its high market demand and adaptability to various aquaculture conditions. The success and sustainability of sea cucumber production hinge heavily on state-of-the-art, bio-secure sea cucumberspecific hatcheries. These facilities play a critical role in maintaining the health and well-being of sea cucumber larvae and juveniles, optimizing growth conditions, and efficiently managing feeding and nutrition. Seacucumber Consultancy Pty. Ltd (SCC) has achieved significant advancements in tropical sea cucumber hatchery, grow-out, processing, and value-added product technologies. Notably, we have pioneered the establishment of the first commercial sea cucumber hatcheries in Australasia, Asia, and the Middle East. Our environmentally friendly breeding and rearing
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Commercially valuable tropical sea cucumber
techniques, for species like sandfish and golden sandfish sea cucumbers, have evolved through extensive research and development funded by the Australian government. These advancements have resulted in successful spawning and larval development, facilitating large-scale breeding, and rearing for commercial-scale aquaculture and restocking initiatives. Currently, with our clean and green technology and design, we can produce millions of sea cucumber juveniles per year that can be used for sea/land farming or sea ranching.
Hatchery technology challenges and advances Challenges faced by sea cucumber hatcheries are multifaceted and complex, primarily the need to replicate
Hatchery Feed & Management Vol 11 Issue 4 2023