Sea Cucumber

Recent Chinese investment in a Sea cucumber farm has raised concerns among northern Sri Lankan fishermen.

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About Sea Cucumber

Marine creatures known as sea cucumbers have leathery skin and an elongated body with a single, branching gonad.
They can be found in both tropical and temperate oceans, living in both deeper water and the intertidal zone.
Sea cucumbers can be found in India in the waters surrounding the Lakshadweep and Andaman Nicobar islands as well as in Tamil Nadu's Gulf of Mannar, which is where the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal converge.

Demand:

In China and Southeast Asia, where they are eaten as food and utilized as medicinal, this endangered species is in high demand.
They have high concentrations of a substance called fucosylated glycosaminoglycan in their skin, which Asians have used for centuries to treat joint issues like arthritis.
Calcium carbonate, a crucial component of coral reefs, is a byproduct of the sea cucumber's digestion of sand and plays an important part in the maintenance of coral reefs.
Sea cucumbers are essential to the maintenance of coral reefs because coral reefs need to acquire calcium carbonate in order to thrive.

Protection:

Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) of 1972 lists these animals as protected, making trade in them illegal.
Sea cucumber is regarded as an endangered species in India and is included in Schedule 1 of the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act.
In 2001, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change outlawed the collection and transportation of sea cucumbers.
The first sea cucumber conservation area was established in Lakshadweep.

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Source: The Indian Express

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