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Scientific assessment in accordance with CITES biological listing criteria Y Black teatfish, Holothuria whitmaei & Holothuria nobilis White teatfish, Holothuria fuscogilva Management Teatfish species are pre- management under the Con- The most common national dominantly exploited in vention. National and co- r e g u l a t o r y m e a s u r e s small-scale and artisanal management management include: minimum legal size fisheries across most of measures and the enforce- limits, gear restrictions, their range. There has been ment of regulations have requirements for exporters l i t t l e i n t e r n a t i o n a l o r generally been unable to sta- to submit logbooks, and tem- regional coordination in bilize production within coun- poral closures. Where their management, partially tries, with 'boom-and-bust' attempted, total allowable because the fishing of sea fishing cycles often charac- catch quotas have mostly cucumbers and export of terizing these fisheries. proved difficult to implement dried and frozen products successfully. Fishing mora- both still suffer from poor In the Pacific, the Pacific toria have been used in data collection at the spe- Community has put forward many countries to rest cies level, weak manage- options for a regional stocks from fishing once ment and/or enforcement. approach to sea cucumber depletion had been noted. trade, and the Melanesian Species-level recognition is FAO and CITES have a his- Spearhead Group has improving thanks to the cre- tory of examining sea agreed minimum size limits ation of species identifica- cucumber fisheries for for harvest and trade. tion materials. potential complementary Trade Although centuries old, Many countries fishing sea Trade value chains and fish- international trade has cucumber have challenging ery-to-market traceability expanded in recent decades development issues, with remain largely opaque at a – in Asian markets teatfish remote communities reliant species level, with unlawful attract prices of over USD on sea cucumbers for cash activity not uncommon along 200/kg depending on size income. the chain. and processing quality.

LIKELY EFFECTIVENESS FOR CONSERVATION management, trade and implementation

Due to the widely distributed could provide a mechanism and can be difficult to distin- Comments on technical aspects relative to and artisanal nature of sea for a comprehensive, stan- guish from one another by cucumber fishing, and rural dardized reporting of quotas the untrained eye. communities' reliance on this and trade. This would be trade, the implementation of assisted by increasing coop- If teatfish are listed in CITES a CITES listing would require eration among exporting Appendix II, future legal trade significant investment in the countries. will be recorded in the CITES

capacities of fisheries, con- trade database. However, as le ab il

servation and trade agencies Control of high-value, low- has been the case for listed e a c v

in the producing, transit and volume fisheries commodi- sharks and seahorses, the en ic market states. ties is difficult. Illegal, unre- Expert Panel expects the list- k is a or

ported and unregulated ing to prompt some countries s w 0 IGO l 3. The ability for national agen- trade is expected to continue to cease legal exports of Thi . SA - ed

cies to perform fishery- unless there is significant teatfish, or all sea cucumber v C r N independent population investment in product trace- species; such a response is - Y ese

assessments is an advan- ability and surveillance likely to be of limited value in ts r tage, and would facilitate the across the market chain. increasing governance.

making of management deci- er a CC B nd sions. Identifying species could be The effects of a CITES listing Some righ u a challenge, as sea cucum- on the emergence of sea

A CITES listing for teatfish bers are often considered cucumber aquaculture 9 could have some conserva- 'look-alikes'. Teatfish pos- should also be a consider- 1 , 20 O

tion benefits. Moreover, it sess teats along their sides ation. A © F

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