GIANT RED SEA CUCUMBER Parastichopus californicus AQUACULTURE AS A TOOL FOR CONSERVATION

The giant red sea cucumber, Parastichopus californicus, is an emerging aquaculture species with substantial economic and ecological value for the North American West Coast. In Washington State, P. californicus wild stocks have continually declined since their harvest peak in the early 1990s. As a result, fishery closures and reduced quotas have been enforced despite increasing demand and value. Furthermore, poaching concerns are rising as in other parts of the world because sea cucumbers are easy to locate and harvest. Due to all of these factors, P. californicus is a good candidate for aquaculture.

P. californicus aquaculture could have multiple economic and ecological benefits through (1) generating revenue for coastal communities, (2) relieving pressure on wild stocks, and because sea cucumbers feed on waste products of other species, if integrated into existing aquaculture systems they may (3) alleviate some of the negative environmental impacts associated with existing aquaculture systems.

Aquaculture research and development for this species has been in progress since 2016 at NOAA's Kenneth K. Chew Center for Shellfish Research and Restoration. Research has focused on larval and early juvenile development. Several experiments have been conducted to optimize rearing conditions (e.g., temperature and diet) for larval and juvenile culture. The results of these experiments along with anecdotal information on broodstock handling, spawning techniques, and general animal husbandry will be discussed.