Understanding the Decline of Sea Cucumber Fisheries in the Pacific Region

SEA CUCUMBER FISHERIES MARCH 2019, NOUMEA

OUTLINE Status of sea cucumber fishery, Management and compliance ICUN and CITES PROP BDM project

FISHERY STATUS BDM, the most important coastal fishery product traded from the region ~ 25 species harvested across PICTs Sea cucumber resources in majority PICTs have declined due to: excess harvesting and exports authorities responsible for the management of the fishery have been slow to react or have had difficulty reacting to the declining state of the resources.

FISHERY STATUS Characterised by open/closed seasons SC fisheries followed patterns of rapid spatial expansion at multiple scales, involving processes described as serial exploitation , roving bandits and contagious exploitation , involving a high level of IUU Important revenue for many PICTs The heavy, over exploited status of stocks across the region, substantial economic losses to fishers and PICTs economies

FISHERIES IN MELANESIA SUPPLYING MAJORITY OF BDM FROM THE REGION Production by region 2500 2000 Tonnes (dry weight) 1500 1000 500 0 2012 2017 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 2014 2015 2016 Melanesia Polynesia Micronesia 10 and 5 year average

2012-2016 PICS AVERAGE UN- OR MISS- REPORTED WAS 3% TO 30%; BUT VARIED AMONGST COUNTRY'S FROM NEGATIVE % TO 100% Exports and Imports for BdM from PICs 900 800 700 600 Volume (mt) 500 400 300 200 100 0 2012 2013 2014 Year 2015 2016 Import country Exports PICs

MARKET 1996 and 2011 countries serving the Chinese BDM market expanded from 35 to 83. By 2016 167 countries/territories supplied BDM to Hong Kong Hong Kong and Guangzhou wholesale and retail prices for BDM are available for several species. High value i.e. Black teatfish, White teatfish and Sandfish retail @ USD150 to USD390/kg. (2016), but watch CITES coming soon Low value species i.e. Elephant trunkfish, Lollyfish, Amberfish and Snakefish retail at USD20 to USD35/kg. (2016) References Eriksson, H. and Clarke, S. 2015. Chinese market responses to overexploitation of sharks and sea cucumbers. Biological Conservation. 184. 163-173. Purcell, S.W. 2014. Value, market preferences and trade of beche-de-mer from Pacific Island sea cucumbers, PLoS One 9 (4) (2014) e95075. Purcell, S.W., Williamson, D.H. and Ngaluafe, P., 2018. Chinese market prices of beche-de-mer: Implications for fisheries and aquaculture. Marine Policy, 91, pp.58-65. http://bit.ly/2tY0Zc8

HONG KONG SANDFISH RETAIL ~USD1890/KG, ~12CM Photo: Watisoni Lalavanua

IUCN, CITES & BDM Nine sea cucumber species in PICTs COASTAL AREAS listed by IUCN Red listed: endangered or vulnerable to extinction Endangered Black teatfish Golden sandfish Sandfish Curryfish Prickly redfish White teatfish Vulnerable Surf redfish Deepwater redfish Hairy blackfish

CITES PICTs parties to CITES are: Fiji, Palau, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Is, Tonga and Vanuatu and dependencies of France, USA, NZ, as well as Australia (13 PICTs + 2) 2018, the EU under a proposal by France, proposed teatfish species: black teatfish (H. whitmae, and H. nobilis), and white teatfish (H. fuscogilva) listed on App II of CITES. Pakoa K

CITES February 2019, the 6th Expert Panel of the FAO met to review this proposal by EU/France and determined the following: white teatfish (H. fuscogilva), apart from localized cases of severe decline, the available information did not meet the listing criteria for CITES Appendix II; White teatfish, Holothuria fuscogilva the Indian Ocean black teatfish (H. nobilis), the available information was insufficient to determine this species status in relation to the listing criteria for CITES Appendix II at this time; however the Pacific Ocean black teatfish (H. whitmaei), the available information met the listing criteria for CITES Appendix II. Black teatfish, Holothuria whitmaei

CITES A decision to list these species will be made @ 18th CITES CoP in June/July 2019 If these teatfish species are CITES App II listed at the mid 2019 meeting: Parties to CITES are required to make non-detrimental findings to allow for harvesting and exports to continue NDF will fall on Fisheries Agencies Fisheries Agencies will have to liaise with national Conservation Agencies/Departments as the in-country CITES Management Authority to issue permits for exports of these teatfish species White teatfish, Holothuria fuscogilva Black teatfish, Holothuria whitmaei

PACIFIC OCEAN REGIONAL OCEANSCAPE PROGRAM (PROP) PROP project was presented at HoF10 (2017) CFP received financial support form WorldBank via FFA Project start Jan 2017 & ends Dec 2019 Focus on BDM fisheries in MSG countries, FSM, RMI & Tuvalu

PROP Major task: To facilitate the formulation of a regional or sub-regional BDM fishery group using the MSG structure Technical support to countries to assess biological and economic management tools for BDM Project outcomes: Improved information and management of BDM stocks in participating countries. Strong political support and engagement. BDM stocks in participating countries under recovery or rebuilt. Updated value chain price list by species and product grade

PROP Outputs (yrs 1-2): Review of SC fisheries data collection, management practices, market information and trends for 6 of the 7 countries were completed MSG Fisheries Technical Advisory Committee (FTAC) reactivated Met (Nov 2017) to discuss amongst other fisheries issues, sea cucumber fisheries management. SC management workshop convened for FSM, RMI, Tuvalu and Sol Is (Sept 2018)

YR 1 & 2 CONT Several sea cucumber fisheries information papers and briefs were produced for this meeting, including: Status of Global and Pacific region sea cucumber fisheries Maximum long-term economic value and ecological sustainability of sea cucumbers Recovering the value of sea cucumber fisheries in Melanesia Setting minimum size limits for MSG sea cucumber fisheries Buyer and market prices for BDM for Melanesia Political will, transparency and information Harmonisation of conditions for sea cucumber fisheries management across Melanesia And more to be finalised

Work in yr 3: To convene MSG FTAC meeting; Ongoing implementation of the political will engagement strategy; An assessment on harmonising pricing structures for sea cucumbers and beche-de-mer as well as licensing conditions; and Developing and maintaining a regional database, including detail on exports of various inshore fisheries commodities.

CONCLUSION 1. Maintain status quo (carry on as usual) State of fisheries are not helping communities/countries Has economic impact, lost revenue to communities/countries (HR) Undermines sustainable fishing, leading to declining stocks and destruction of marine habitats, species extinction 2. Regional / Subregional approach (PROP efforts) For Coastal Fisheries, no one PICT is going to be a big player in BDM global market A collective, cooperative approach is likely to produce better outcomes than going it alone 3. International controls (e.g. IUCN, CITIES, requires NDF, meticulous records, monitoring etc etc etc)

CONCLUSION Benefits of BDM fisheries flow directly to communities/villages and individuals Most sea cucumber stocks in region overexploited with substantial economic losses to fishers and PICTs Across the region BDM export information is fragmented, but improving, some countries have quite detail information. BDM MCS are weak / limited, no traceability Implications of CITES listing of teatfish species

IP6 GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What are the main areas that you see are problematic for governance along the BDM market and value chain? 2. What implications does CITES listing of these species have on community livelihoods and national revenue generation? 3. What do you understand as the requirements to allow for CITES species to be exported?