The recent collapse of once-thriving Mexican sea cucumber populations due to poaching underscores the urgency of a new study, co-authored by GEOG Associate Professor Meredith Gore, that outlines the potential damage to wildlife and people when crime engulfs international trade.

“Illegal sea cucumber fishing has a devastating impact on populations of this important marine invertebrate, undermining conservation efforts,” said Teale N. Phelps Bondaroff, lead author of the paper in Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin and director of OceansAsia. “Illegal fishing undermines conservation efforts, destroys wildlife populations and ecosystems, hurts legal fishers, robs potential tax dollars from governments, undermines good governance and social order, and fuels organized crime.”

The international team of researchers examined media coverage of sea cucumber smuggling and poaching in Mexico from 2011 to 2021. In that time, the study found, over 100.6 metric tons of sea cucumbers were seized by Mexican and U.S. authorities, with an estimated value of $29.55 million, a number that only represents known thefts.

Sea cucumbers are a luxury food product in Asia and are used in traditional Chinese medicine. They also play a critical role in the nutrient cycling of marine ecosystems, acting like earthworms of the sea by cycling material in the seabed.

The price of sea cucumbers has been on the rise. The most common commercially exploited species in Mexico can sell for hundreds of dollars a kilogram in Hong Kong. Sea cucumber species are also easy prey – they move slowly along the sea bottom and have no defenses. Collecting them out of season or without permits can be regarded as low-risk, high-reward activity for criminals.

In a decade, the thriving sea cucumber population in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula has been virtually eliminated. Protecting sea cucumbers is a challenge:

• The authorities often lack the resources to patrol the vast areas where fishing occurs.
• Conservation efforts are undermined by illegal fishing and require political will.
• There is a lack of awareness and concern of sea cucumbers among the general public. Many people are unaware that sea cucumbers are animals and not vegetables, let alone that they are important components of marine ecosystems and sought after by organized crime syndicates.

“Sea cucumber trafficking not only harms fish populations, it undermines local fishers’ livelihoods and undercuts the rule of law,” said Gore. “Community-based crime prevention strategies hold a lot of promise for reducing harm to both people and fish.”

Read the original article from Michigan State University. Photo by Jose López-Rocha 

Read the paper here.