October 25, 2010

Australian study on sea cucumbers offers hope for shrimp farmers

An Australian researcher believes sea cucumbers could save struggling shrimp farms in central Vietnam.

According to reports, a growing number of shrimp ponds are being abandoned because waste from the crustaceans is building up, becoming toxic and causing disease.

But Australian scientist Dr Dave Mills at the WorldFish Centre says sea cucumbers can clean the ponds.

"They have this ability to eat organic material out of the sediments, so this is beneficial for the ponds because you do not get this horrible build-up of organic material and the farmers can just put the sea cucumbers in the ponds and they don't have to feed them," he said.

While wild sea cucumber stocks are running low because of over-fishing, the farmed species is starting to take off.

After a decade of research, Vietnam's government-owned hatchery north of Nha Trang is producing reliable batches of juveniles.

Mills says the slow movers, which can fetch more than US$200 a kilogramme when dried, are now winning over commercial investors.

Pham Van Hoan was one of the first farmers to swap from shrimp to the more sedate species.

Tran Van Huu, a veteran of the shrimp industry, has taken up sea cucumber farming more recently. But instead of replacing the crustacean, which he says he can earn more money from, he has decided to farm both.

"Sea cucumbers eat the waste from shrimp and clean the sediment, so if we have one crop of sea cucumbers and then one crop of shrimp, we'll definitely make a profit," he said.