Puerto Rico lacks updated data on the status of the sea cucumber, whose fishing was banned over eight years ago. The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA, in Spanish) has not conducted studies on the animal since 2013, even though it signed a contract in 2019 to study the species.
Currently, “the information we have on sea cucumbers is very limited,” said Nilda Jiménez, the DRNA’s Protected Species Program coordinator.
The DRNA banned the fishing of sea cucumbers and sea urchins in 2016. According to an administrative order, although they are not “traditionally of commercial or cultural importance” in Puerto Rico, commercial fishing began in Puerto Rican waters when fishermen sought new sources of sea cucumbers due to population declines in other places caused by overfishing.
The sea cucumber is a cylindrical, elongated marine invertebrate, resembling an oversized worm, with a slimy texture and brownish-green color. This animal is crucial for the conservation of marine ecosystems because it recycles nutrients, aerates sediment, controls water acidity, and assimilates biodiversity. Uncontrolled fishing undermines and threatens populations in all oceans, including the Caribbean waters.
For example, on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, illegal fishing of the species and attempts to commercialize its export has been recorded for over a decade due to the market in China, where the animal is considered a delicacy.
The DRNA became aware in 2011 that sea cucumbers were being fished when a man applied for a permit to capture the animal. Since sea cucumber capture was not prohibited at that time, he was granted a commercial fishing permit, according to a 2013 study by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Maryland, commissioned by the DRNA. Since then, the DRNA has not documented whether illegal fishing and export of this species occur in Puerto Rico.
In 2015, students from the University of Puerto Rico in Humacao raised alarms about the danger of overfishing sea cucumbers and sea urchins. The group sent a letter to the DRNA, prompting the agency to issue an administrative order banning their fishing for a year. This temporary measure became a permanent ban in June 2016.
Before the 2016 administrative order, only one company, Vermesco Corporation, was dedicated to the fishing and export of sea cucumbers in Puerto Rico, according to information provided by the DRNA to the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI). In 2011, Vermesco Corporation, operating in Lajas and Guánica on the Southern Coast, captured 114,485 sea cucumbers over 10 months and exported the animals to Miami and Asia.
Photo by Guillermo Suárez | Ocean Reporting Project del Pulitzer Center
Vermesco Corporation had a manager, four fishermen, and between five and six processors to export sea cucumbers, according to a 2013 study. WPI researchers were unable to contact the manager to learn more about the company and its exact export destinations. The company, incorporated by an individual named Oscar Tabares, ceased operations in November 2012, and the Department of State canceled its corporate registration in 2014.
The 2013 study found that, at that time, sea cucumber fishing was no longer allowed in the Lajas and Guánica area, while in Culebra, an island municipality off the Eastern Coast, the animal was fished for personal, not commercial, use. Due to time constraints, the research team did not rule out the possibility of sea cucumber fishing occurring in other areas they could not visit. The researchers recommended that the DRNA continue investigations and consider implementing regulations on sea cucumber fishing.
“Continuing to document where sea cucumbers are fished, have been fished, or could be fished will provide data for the DRNA to analyze potential future sea cucumber fishing,” the research states.
A Missed Opportunity
In 2019, the DRNA contracted Isla Mar Research Expeditions for $112,054 to estimate the animal’s abundance in southwestern Puerto Rico and, among other tasks, conduct interviews about its “potential illegal extraction.” However, the project was never carried out due to a lack of funds, said Chelsea Harms Tuohy, co-founder of Isla Mar Research Expeditions, in an email.
The funds allocated for the study were set to expire on September 30, 2019, but the contract was signed just two weeks before the deadline. The agency failed to take the necessary steps to extend the term, leaving the study unfinished.
The project was to be funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The CPI requested information from the FWS about these funds and the current sea cucumber population in Puerto Rico but did not receive an immediate response.
“There was no way to implement it, and the funds couldn’t be extended or the contract amended in two weeks, so it was left there,” said Jiménez. “Later, attempts were made to see if it could be worked on again, but between one thing and another, it never materialized.”
According to Jiménez, in Puerto Rico, the sea cucumber is not considered a threatened or endangered species. The ban was implemented as a protective measure due to population declines in other places and persistent demand. The biologist noted that the agency has not received information about illegal fishing of this animal in recent years.
“We have nothing indicating that there is an intention or that the threat of illegal fishing is present,” Jiménez assured. “Occasionally, we received comments; it seemed more like personal consumption fishing than commercial. And after that, we didn’t hear about the matter again.”
A study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned: “Sea cucumber populations are under intense fishing pressure worldwide. Most high-value commercial species have been depleted,” according to a 2009 report. Another 2015 report found that the number of countries exporting sea cucumbers increased from 35 to 83 between 1996 and 2011. However, only nine of those countries had achieved hatchery reproduction: Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, New Caledonia, and Vietnam.
Investigative journalist Isayen Herrera, from ArmandoInfo, collaborated on this story.
