An illegal trade that thrives with sea cucumbers

India: Lately, frequent seizures of banned marine species, especially sea cucumbers are reported along the southern Tamil Nadu coast, mainly from Tuticorin and Ramanathapuram districts. These sea cucumbers are caught in bulk and smuggled to neighbouring countries from the marine biodiversity rich Gulf of Mannar seas, where they fetch a good price.

According to official sources, sea cucumber poaching and processing happens across the coast and the seizures are just a tip of the iceberg. "Not even 10% of the smuggled sea cucumbers are seized by the various enforcement authorities," said a marine police official.

Till July 2001, traditional fishermen used to catch the sea cucumbers by skin diving and sell them to local traders. It was a source of income for thousands of fishermen along the coast since they are found in plenty in the region. "After the ban, the trade shifted from fishermen to smugglers who control the business in this region. They operate like a mafia," the official said.

Wildlife warden of Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, Deepak Bilgi said that indiscriminate poaching of marine species like sea cucumber and seahorse forced the central government to include them in Schedule I. Poaching them is punishable under Wildlife Protection Act and they are keeping a close watch for smugglers, he said.

However, since sea cucumbers are not banned in the neighbouring countries, smugglers transport processed ones either by sea or road from where they are sent especially to far eastern countries where there is a greater demand.

Experts on the other hand question the logic behind the ban which they say is not serving its purpose. Retired principal scientist of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, H Mohammed Kasim said the forest department that implemented about the ban does not have any enforcement capability on seas where the sea cucumbers are harvested. "The forest department does not have the infrastructure to curb poachers or expertise to research on sea cucumbers. We are clueless on what expertise the department included sea cucumber into protected marine species," he said.

Fishermen said they don't consider sea cucumbers as endangered species. "In our experience, we have seen sea cucumbers multiplying once in six months. They are plenty in sea in spite of rampant smuggling. We have only lost sustainable livelihood by this ban," said Arul Rayappan, a fisherman in Pamban.

January 11: Forest officials detain two smugglers with 200 kg consignment at Sayalkudi

January 8: Sri Lankan naval ship, Vijaya held 950 kg sea cucumbers smuggled from India and arrest 5 people

January 6, Vedalai police seize 300 kg but the gang including the kingpin flee the spot

December 7, 2015: Q branch officials in Tuticorin seize two tonnes and arrest three people

June 17, 2015: Devakottai town police seize 330 kg and arrest two. The consignment from Andaman was being taken to Rameswaram for smuggling to Sri Lanka

June 13, 2015: Coast Guard hovercraft intercepts a boat indulging in sea cucumber fishing and seizes 20 kg from it

May 10, 2015: Marine police in Tuticorin arrest four and seize 360 kg of sea cucumbers

Sea cucumber

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms, marine animals with cylindrical shape living on the ocean floor

There are more than 1,700 species distributed across the world but more in Asia Pacific region

In India, they are protected as Schedule I species under the Wildlife Protection Act and fishing them from sea bottom is banned

They are widely used in cuisines of far eastern countries and is in high demand for Chinese traditional medicine

They are poached predominantly in Gulf of Mannar where they are found in large numbers and smuggled through sea to Sri Lanka where it is not banned

They act like scavengers of ocean floor feeding through filter and excessive poaching will hurt marine eco-system

The smuggling of sea cucumbers

Sea cucumbers near the shore are caught by local fishermen by skin diving while there is a specific net that can be used in fishing trawlers to catch them away from the shore

People employed by smugglers using a small boat collect the sea cucumbers before fishing trawlers come to the shore

The harvested sea cucumbers are boiled in hot water added with salt and later dried on the shore called processing

 After thorough drying, 1 kg of sea cucumbers shrink to just 200g. They are packed and transported either through sea or by road

Since sea cucumbers are banned only in India, transporting to neighbouring countries either by road or sea is the modus operandi of smugglers

Sri Lanka is the main transit point through sea where one kg of processed sea cucumber can fetch INR 5,000. Smugglers procure the same amount to less than Rs 1000 in the region

 The total seizures may not even account to 10% of the total sea cucumbers smuggled

(Source: The Times of India)