A. Species
Scientific name: Holothuria atra
Common name(s): Lollyfish
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Least Concern
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Indian Ocean - western
Country/Region: Eritrea/ Red Sea
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: National Level
Name/Details of location: 120 sites along the Eritrean Red Sea coast
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2017
End Year: 2017
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Targeted fishing harvesting/exploiting or collecting wild aquatic resources
Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed
Motivation of use: Basic subsistence, Income generation from trade (individual/household/community) and Largescale commercial exploitation for trade
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: Data in this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Comparison of Sea cucumber abundance between fished and unfished locations evidences that not all commercial species are declining due to fishing pressure, although several species were rare/ absent in fished sites. As a result, the level of fishing has a significant effect on the diversity of sea cucumber species as a whole.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Although popular and lucrative, the regional sea cucumber population cannot support this economy.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Accidents and safety issues are a common and serious concern facing sea cucumber harvesters using air compressors, scuba, and skin diving. Most divers are young (average 36 years) and receive no diving training, other than very basic guidance by their colleagues. Limited freshwater on board of fishing vessels results in sailors not washing saltwater off their bodies, which results in "slug disease" and open suppurating wounds. Sea cucumber harvest results in (also officially reported) many diving accidents. Sea cucumber population cannot support this level of explotation.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Diving to harvest is dangerous.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Welfare criteria don't apply well to invertebrates.
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
The authors suggest to: • Carry out in-depth analysis on the biology of sea cucumbers i.e., growth, reproduction, etc. • Develop management plans for adopting a preventative strategy that involves the establishment of a national fishing advisory council. • Implement effective methods for post-harvest handling and mariculture to replace stock; and • Bring legislation to safeguard wild sea cucumber populations.
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2022-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2022-11-24