(MENAFN- Colombo Gazette) Sea cucumbers are marine animals with leathery skin and elongated bodies containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. Crabs, fish, turtles, and even some species of shark are natural predators of sea cucumbers.
Sea cucumbers are also known as marine invertebrates related to sea urchins and starfish. It is widely consumed and has a ready market. In China, it is considered a delicacy.
It is dried and used in soups and other dishes and is considered a delicacy in Asian countries. Sea cucumber is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat fatigue, impotence, constipation, frequent urination, and joint pain.
In Sri Lanka Aquatech International Company has launched a project for commercial seed production of sea cucumber. It is the first commercial hatchery established in Sri Lanka. This Company has been breeding sea cucumber seeds since 2015. The hatchery is located at Ambakandawila, in Chilaw.
They were producing sea cucumber seeds. This company produced advanced juveniles in nursery ponds at Muthupanthiya, also located off Chilaw. This hatchery and nursery ponds are supervised by the National Aquaculture Development Authority.
Chinese investments in local sea cucumber farming have really caused ripples among the fishing community in the Northern districts of Jaffna and Kilinochchi.
There were many questions raised about the livelihood of local fishermen when the government handed over some of the sea cucumber projects to Chinese investors. The government also chose to sidestep the local fishing community and their point of view.
In December 2021, the Chinese ambassador in Colombo made it a point to visit cucumber farming projects in which Chinese investors have shown interest. The ambassador also visited other areas in general and reportedly spoke to the fishing community in the North to cultivate an acquaintance with the Tamil people there.
Northern Sri Lankan fishermen are also up in arms over the government's plans to commercialize aquaculture. They see it as a threat to their already affected livelihoods and land.
The fisher folk citing certain media reports have expressed their concern about a Chinese firm investing in a sea cucumber project in Pungudutivu. This is off the Jaffna Peninsula in the North. According to locals, the project will have a severe impact on their livelihoods, marine ecosystems, and traditional lands where they colonised.
Annalingam Annaaras, the president of the Jaffna Fisheries Federation, quoted by the Indian media early this year said“We recognise the need for investment in our war-affected region, but the sea cucumber farms are mainly for exports. They will only bring more harm than benefit to those of us living here.”
They worry that the focus will be more on commercial endeavours that would negatively impact the regional marine ecosystem. This is essential to the way of life of residents.
They are also worried about bottom trawling off the coast of the Jaffna peninsula and the kerosene prices added to the ever-rising cost–of–living.
Sri Lanka has exported around 330 metric tonnes of sea cucumber to China, Singapore, and Hong Kong, according to local media reports. The country reeling under an unprecedented economic downturn was desperate to find dollars to stabilise its battered economy.
In that context, the Sri Lankan government appears to have identified sea cucumber has potential for both, foreign investment and exports. As a result, breeding and selling the sausage-shaped marine animal considered a delicacy in China and Southeast Asia could be a lucrative business to earn foreign exchange at the expense of the livelihood of local fisher folk. In any case, locals do not consume sea cucumbers.
Mid-2022, the Cabinet of Ministers approved and allocated 5000 acres for sea cucumber projects in four districts, namely Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Batticaloa in the north and east.
The move follows Sri Lanka's breakthrough in the international market for sea cucumbers. In 2021 statistics show that Sri Lanka earned a considerable amount of foreign exchange through sea cucumber exports.
The initiative was taken by Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda who represents the Jaffna district in Parliament. The National Aquatic Development Authority, an institution under the purview of the Fisheries ministry plays a lead role in the project. This is a novel experience for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs involved in sea cucumber farming.
Minister Devananda explained that the country needed both investment and technology to go forward. He had been trying for several years to obtain the necessary technical know–how to proceed with the matter. Finally, Minister Devananda spoke to a Chinese company, but the project details have not yet been finalized.
Devananda told The Hindu newspaper as late as September he would“not compromise India's security or allow any threat to India's security concerns. Nevertheless, minister Devananda was optimistic that sea cucumber projects would bring jobs locally and he believed that it would not harm the local fishermen and their livelihoods.
Pungudutivu, where the farm is being proposed, is in close proximity to Nainativu. This is one of the three islands Sri Lanka cleared for a Chinese renewable energy project last year.
The government of India immediately expressed concerns about the project's proximity to its southern coast. This led Sri Lanka to cancel the Chinese project and allow an Indian project to be built on those sites.
The Chinese Embassy in Colombo told the Hindu newspaper that no information had been received yet on a Chinese company investing in a sea cucumber farm. This is on a small island off the coast of Jaffna.
“It could be a private company negotiating on a commercial basis,” a spokesman said. However, pointing to an existing joint venture between a Chinese firm and Sri Lanka, in the coastal village of Ariyalai in Jaffna, the Chinese official said“it has created about one thousand jobs for nearby villages. Last year it provided 500,000 sea cucumber seedlings to local farmers for free and nearly one million dollars were brought in.”
Local fishermen who opposed the fencing of farms off some areas bordering the sea and limiting access to even local fishermen were vocal opponents of another Chinese project in the neighbouring Kilinochchi district last year, according to the Hindu newspaper.
“We were upset because they weren't consulting us, and we saw that the company was advertising a hatchery while really fishing sea cucumbers in our waters,” the group said.
According to K. Baheerathan of the Koutharimunai Fishermen's Association,“That sort of massive capture on a regular basis can significantly destroy our marine resources.”
In addition, the sea cucumber farming projects could create problems for the ecological balance of the area fishermen complain about.