VANCOUVER – Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced today that the sea cucumber fishery on the Pacific Coast opened on October 1^st, 2001 with similar fishing opportunities as last year and a larger total allowable catch.

Sea cucumbers are harvested commercially by divers during the annual three to four week fishery. The animals are harvested when their muscle weight is at its highest and then processed into two products: frozen muscle strips and dried skin known as ‘trepang’. These products are exported to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China and Korea. The landed value of the fishery has historically been approximately $1 million a year, but increased to approximately $1.5 million in 2000.

The sea cucumber is also an important species for both First Nation and recreational harvesters. The daily limit for recreational harvest of sea cucumber is 12, with a possession limit of 24.

In June of 2001, the Department drafted a commercial harvest plan and presented it for discussion at the Sea Cucumber Sectoral Committee. The Sea Cucumber Sectoral Committee meets twice a year to discuss research objectives and plans, review stock assessment advice and draft a management plan. The total allowable catch (TAC) presented to the Sectoral Committee was based upon stock assessment research completed earlier that spring. Commercial licence holders, represented by the Pacific Sea Cucumber Harvesters Association (PSCHA), and First Nations actively participate in the biomass surveys that have resulted in a gradual increase in TAC since 1997.

As a result of the collaborative surveys, the TAC will increase by 4% from 816,000 lb in 2000, to 850,000 lb for the upcoming fishing season. The north and central coast support 80% of the fishery and the remaining 20% is supported by the south coast.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada manages this fishery through an adaptive management strategy that restricts commercial harvesting of sea cucumbers to 25% of the B.C. coastline. Another 25% of the coastline is reserved for research purposes and the final 50% is closed to harvesting until more basic biological information is collected and the adaptive management plan is reviewed.

There are 85 licence eligibilities for this fishery and each fisher is required to annually select one of four licence areas in which to fish. Sea cucumber fishery is managed through a pilot individual quota system. The pilot program was established with several requirements: a minimum of two percent of the total allowable catch (TAC) is to be allocated for First Nations’ food, social and ceremonial use. The remaining TAC is to be divided equally among commercial licence holders; and fishers are required to develop and fund a catch monitoring and validation program to ensure that area quotas and IQs are not exceeded.

Abundance surveys and experimental fisheries are being conducted to evaluate sustainable harvest rate options. The results of these surveys have suggested a potential for growth in the fishery. This fishery is managed in a precautionary manner.