Mauritius is planning to export sea cucumbers

Mauritius is planning to export sea cucumbers, a popular Chinese delicacy, on a large scale to Asian countries like Hong Kong, Japan, the Koreas and China where the market is very lucrative. The sea slug commonly known as barbaras fetches up to Rs 5,000 a kilo.

Minister of Fisheries and Rodrigues Nicolas von Mally announced that the government was planning to start a pilot project and, following its success, the sea fruit will be commercially exploited.

“I was recently in Madagascar, and I saw how the farming is done. The government is currently considering to set up the breeding stations on an industrial scale starting on a pilot basis,” said Von Mally.

Breeding sea cucumbers in Mauritius and Rodrigues is mentioned in the draft regional programme for the sustainable management of coastal areas of Indian Ocean member countries.

He added, “Depending on the success of the pilot project, it is envisaged to produce one million sea cucumbers, which has a high market value.”

Von Mally underlined that the government will act fast on the implementation of the project.

“In Mauritius, we have fish ponds in places such as Albion and we are planning to construct two in Rodrigues. We will start with 3,000 in the fish ponds before releasing them in the put them in lagoons. Once the ideal regions are spotted, fishermen will be trained to run the barbara farms,” he said.

“In Asian countries where demand is very high, a kilo of sea cumcumber is sold between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000,” said Von Mally.

During his visit during a visit to Madagascar, he met a scientist who showed him how sea cucumbers can be bred and ‘harvested’.

Besides breeding, the project offers an alternative to fishermen who complain that lagoons are depleted of fish.