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Breeding and Culture of the Sea Cucumber Holothuria scabra in Vietnam

Document format: pdf

Publisher: Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific

Creation date: March 2003

The sea cucumber Holothuria scabra (sandfish) has been commercially exploited over a wide tropical and subtropical range for centuries. It can produce a high-value grade of beche-demer if processing is carried out well. In many cases sandfish have made up the most valuable fraction of the total sea cucumber trade from particular producing countries, both in terms of price per kilogram and of total value. However processing weight losses can be as high as 95 percent, and wet-weight prices to fishermen are typically in the range $US1-3/kg. Higher prices are generally paid for larger specimens. The species may have potential for commercial aquaculture and for restocking or stock enhancement. Sandfish have been bred on an experimental scale in India, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Vietnam and the Maldives. There are also accounts of commercial culture based on cage or pond storage and growth of wild-collected animals. Some people in the Cam Ranh and Van Ninh areas ongrow some collected sandfish in shrimp-style ponds or in pens, to benefit from the higher prices paid for larger animals. However it is not known on what scale or how successful these activities are, or whether culture together with shrimp is anywhere practiced successfully.

Key Words: NACA • Vietnam • Sea Cucumber • sandfish • FAO