Sea cucumber smugglers hurt Indian ecology at the Gulf of Mannar

Sea slug smugglers hurt ecology deeply
Swati Das | Rameswaram The Daily Pioneer 21 Jun 10;

Sea cucumbers are a sea slug that cleans the floor of the oceans and helps maintain the ecosystem under the water. But they are a delicacy in the South-East Asian countries that can fetch the Indian sellers around Rs 5,000 a kg or more.

To preserve and protect these sea creatures, the Indian Government banned sea cucumber fishing under Schedule I of Amendment (2002) to the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. Yet, sea cucumber trade continues to thrive, depleting the resources of Indian seas, especially in the Gulf of Mannar, along the south Tamil Nadu coast, thanks to smugglers in these areas.

Sea cucumber fishing had provided a successful alternative for Tamil Nadu fishermen. But following the ban, the trade has slipped into the hands of smugglers. They, with the help of Forest department officials, are minting money and causing a huge loss to the country.

“The ban has not helped protect the species. The smugglers along the Rameswaram-Tuticorin coast are depleting the resources; they get away by bribing forest officials,” said former sea cucumber fisherman BG Sekhar.

Smugglers have enough subordinates to handle the pouching of holothurians, processing them and selling them across the sea. So, when someone is caught, it is not the real smugglers. Sources say the smugglers operate with strong political support.

“You will often read that sea cucumbers are seized by forest officials. These are nothing but a cover-up to show they are doing their job. The real business goes unnoticed,” said a journalist.

The fact that neither Sri Lanka, nor Mauritius has a ban on catching sea creature – sold in the processed form known as Beche-de-mar – helps in the smuggling. These sea creatures are traded at sea along the International Maritime Boundary Line to traders from these countries. They are in turn sold to South-East Asian countries, with Singapore being a major hub where a kilogram of these processed animals cost about $150-200.

When the war with the LTTE was on, the sea cucumbers used to be smuggled out in refugee boats. They are also sometimes exported clandestinely by air or ship by naming the containers as ‘dried fish’.

Along with sea cucumber, the endangered mammal sea cow (Dugon dugon), sea horse and pipe fish, all coming under the Schedule I of the Wildlife Act, are also sold across the sea. While harvesting the sea cucumbers, which nestle to the sea corals, the corals are destroyed. Sea cow meat is known to be delicious and even in Keelakarai market it sells for around Rs 500 or more.

The ban on sea cucumber fishing was initiated by then Union Environment and Forests Minister TR Baalu in 2001 and the Amendment to the Wild Life Act was passed in December 2002. India was the first country to ban sea cucumber fishing. Ironically, it is the same Minister who was bent on carrying out the Sethusamudram Ship Canal project in the same area that would endanger the fragile eco-system.

But not all are happy with the ban. Scientists believe it only sent the trade underground, instead of replenishing the stock. They say that the Government should not have been in a hurry to ban the sea cucumber fishing. Instead, there should have been ranching facility to farm these slow mild creatures and let them into the sea for augmenting their population. Instead restrictions should have been on the size of the sea cucumber allowed to fish and export. This way both livelihood of fishermen and population of the sea slugs could have been maintained.

“There should have been a scientific study before imposing the ban so suddenly,” observed a fisheries official. The stretch between Rameswaram and Tuticorin is the fragile national marine park called the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park and there is a Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust to ensure protection to this park.

An expert in sea cucumbers and the retired scientist from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) DB James had written in his paper for a 2004 Expo on Ocean-Life, Food & Medicine: “Instead of introducing a blanket ban, the Government should have stepped in to rehabilitate the fishermen from fishing to farming. They should be trained for a mass scale breeding and sea ranching programme to keep up the natural stock in the sea. Rational exploitation can be allowed subject to size regulations and catch quota systems for sea cucumber fishing and trade as done in other countries.”

Sea cucumbers or holothurians are also known as sea urchins or scavengers of sea. Since the Chinese invented the Beche-de-mar around 1000 years ago, this has become a thriving industry. Not only is it a delicacy, the slugs are also harvested for medicinal values – treating diabetes, there are claims of it being anti-HIV virus, joint pain reliever and blood pressure. It is also used in the manufacture of cosmetics. The animal in some countries are also considered an aphrodisiac. It is rich in proteins, polysaccharides, Omega-3 fatty acid and marine trace minerals.

It was the Chinese who taught the Tamil Nadu fishermen how to process the slugs or attai as they say in Tamil. Though Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a gold mine of sea cucumbers, it is the poachers from Thailand who exploit the sea around it. Similarly, the Mauritian poachers thrive near Lakshadweep, where quality slug is found.

A lot of middlemen are involved in the pouching of the animal. However, fishermen who are forced to do it get only miniscule amount. There are 17 varieties of sea cucumbers in the Gulf of Mannar and of them the fast moving and costliest is Holothuria scabra - sand fish (vella (white) attai in Tamil). Others include Holothuria atra or Lolly fish (karuppu (black) attai) and Stichopus hermanni – a warty sea cucumber known as pavaikya (bitter gourd) attai.