An Overview of Sea Cucumber Fishery Management in the Fiji Islands

Ravinesh Ram; Roveena Vandana Chand; Paul C Southgate

doi:10.3923/jfas.2016.191.205

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An Overview of Sea Cucumber Fishery Management in the Fiji Islands

Journal article

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An Overview of Sea Cucumber Fishery Management in the Fiji Islands

Ravinesh Ram, Roveena Vandana Chand and Paul C Southgate

Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, Vol.11(3), pp.191-205

2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3923/jfas.2016.191.205

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Abstract

Fisheries Sciences

Management

sea cucumber

fishery

Fiji Islands

bêche-de-mer

The Fijian sea cucumber fishery began in the early 1800's in response to demand from Asian markets for bêche-de-mer. The fishery has shown classic 'boom and bust' production cycles for much of its life. From 1984-2012 a total of 8,620 t of bêche-de-mer were exported from Fiji. Particularly large volumes were exported in 1987 (>600 t), 1988 (>700 t) and 1996 (>600 t) and declines in export volumes are notable following these peaks. Subsequent export peaks of around 400 t in 2005 and 2011, are considerably lower than those in the 1980s and 1990s and after 2005, annual exports averaged 243 t. Between 2003 and 2012 export volumes of high value species declined from 14-8%, while that of medium value species increased from 50-59%. Sandfish (Holothuria scabra) appeared on export manifests in 2003 and 2004 despite an export moratorium for this species. Despite numerous recommendations to improved sustainability of the Fijian sea cucumber fishery, management measures consist primarily of an export size limit of 7.62 cm for bêche-de-mer. Over-exploitation of the resource and declining sea cucumber stocks have resulted. A historic overview of the Fijian sea cucumber fishery was provided within the context of the various fishery management approached adopted by other South Pacific Island nations. It includes data gathered by interviews with sea cucumber fishermen, bêche-de-mer processors and other stakeholders and makes recommendations for an effective management plan for a fishery that is an important livelihood activity for coastal communities in Fiji.

Details

Title: An Overview of Sea Cucumber Fishery Management in the Fiji Islands
Authors: Ravinesh Ram (Corresponding Author) - James Cook University
Roveena Vandana Chand (Author) - University of the South Pacific, Fiji Islands
Paul C Southgate (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Publication details: Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, Vol.11(3), pp.191-205
Publisher: Academic Journals Inc.
Date published: 2016
DOI: 10.3923/jfas.2016.191.205
ISSN: 1816-4927
Copyright note: Copyright © 2016 Ravinesh Ram et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450084402621
Output Type: Journal article

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