These animals, which are called sea cucumbers in France, are not really attractive but they could soon become very interesting from an economic and environmental point of view for oyster farmers. A breeding experiment is currently being carried out in the Claires d’Oléron.
These sea cucumbers, a kind of marine animal with a soft body resembling a tube, have very different names from one country to another, in France they are commonly called sea cucumbers. nothing attractive and yet they are very expensive, mainly in Southeast Asian countries. A kilo of dried sea cucumbers sells for an average of 400 euros on the Chinese market.
Because of the toxins they contain, sea cucumbers cannot be eaten raw. They must be cooked or dried and would then have aphrodisiac properties. They are very popular in the Chinese market and their consumption is very important throughout Asia. Sea cucumber is also of interest to pharmacologists because it would have medicinal virtues, in particular anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer or anti-tumor.
Allow oyster farmers to diversify their production
Since this summer, an experiment has been carried out in the basins of the Center for aquaculture, fishing and the environment of New Aquitaine (CAPENA, ex Creea) installed at the Château d’Oléron. The purpose of this experiment is to see if sea cucumbers can acclimatize to clear waters and grow alongside oysters. If the results are conclusive, oyster farmers could thus be able to both diversify their production and reduce the environmental impact of their activity.
We are here to prove that what we put in place works and that it can bring financial and environmental benefits to professionals. It is perhaps a new way of diversification for the sector and development of aquaculture.
Ecologists are also working on the recovery of algae growing in oyster farms. All these species could eventually become so many ways that aquaculture professionals can exploit to diversify their production.
Litter lovers deposited on the seabed
Sea cucumbers, which live on the seabed and crawl to move around, feed mainly on sand and waste.
The sea cucumbers will eat the waste produced by the oysters and this will help to purify the water and thus improve its quality. This can be beneficial for oysters. This project is part of a larger framework. We want to develop the culture of sea cucumbers but also that of sea worms which serve as bait for recreational fishing and for shrimp farming.
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A species threatened by overfishing
The choice of sea cucumbers to conduct this experiment owes nothing to chance. In the wild, the species is now threatened by overfishing, particularly in Asian waters to meet market demand, which is very strong in this region of the world.
Faced with the overfishing of tropical species, the idea is to supplement and supplement this fishing with farmed animals. Overfishing cannot last. So the interest is to be able to offer the Asian market new species from aquaculture. These are not yet on the market but they will be able to become so.
Today, 58 species of sea cucumbers are harvested for human consumption, but the numbers of several of them continue to decline. This decline is mainly due to overfishing but also to the degradation of the marine environment.
The experiment conducted by CAPENA ecologists began last May and should end this autumn. The possible marketing, if these tests are deemed satisfactory by the oyster farmers of Marennes-Oléron, will still have to wait a little to be effective.
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