Victoria, Seychelles | Wednesday 11^th June 2025 – by: Tresa Bastienne

The Aquaculture Department has officially started its sea cucumber stock enhancement project with a stakeholders meeting held on 10 June 2025 at the STC Conference room. The workshop introduced the concept of the project, to explore the potential of stock enhancement to its industry stakeholders, divers, skippers, processors, researchers, and policymakers, and gathered valuable feedback. 

This technique involves breeding sea cucumbers in hatcheries and releasing the juveniles into the wild to rebuild natural populations. The approach has already seen success in countries like Japan and Oman, and could offer ecological and economic benefits for Seychelles.

Discussions included the technical challenges of culturing species like white teatfish (kokosye blan), long-term funding strategies, and how fishers might benefit from increased quotas or new fishing grounds. Stakeholders also shared local knowledge on juvenile sightings and suitable habitats for future releases.

Several participants suggested using marine protected areas or no-take zones to improve juvenile survival rates, and expressed interest in assisting with future restocking efforts. These contributions are being mapped to guide upcoming field trials. The SFA clarified that while white teatfish will be attempted, the project will also focus on species that are more practical to culture during this early phase.

The initiative is jointly funded by SeyCCAT and SFA and remains in its feasibility stage. Recently, four SFA aquaculture staff completed a training program in the Philippines focused on raising sea cucumber juveniles. Broodstock collection has already started, with the first spawning trial expected in July. The workshop concluded with strong engagement and enthusiasm from all sectors of the sea cucumber industry, and two additional workshops are planned as the project progresses collaboratively.