Transcript day 2 08 wp10 improving value sea cucumber harvests purcell

Increasing the value of sea cucumber harvests
in Pacific islands
Steven Purcell
National Marine Science Centre, Southern Cross University, Australia
The value of processed sea cucumbers
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Value depends on:
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Species
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Size of the animal
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Condition of the animal (damage to body wall)
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Quality of processing
Value of tropical sea cucumbers is about AU$10 to AU$600+ per kg in
Asian dried seafood markets
Potential Stages in Processing
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Gutting
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Sometimes brief 1st boil then squeeze out guts
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Cut: across mouth, on the dorsal surface or on ventral surface
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Salting (1 h to 1 week)
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Boiling
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Removal of spicules from body wall (sandfish and golden sandfish)
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Salting after 1st boil
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Smoking
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Drying
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Re-boiling a 2nd time
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Re-shaping
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Re-drying and re-boiling a 3rd time
Preferences of importers and dealers
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Some importers do not want smoked smell, some do
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Some importers prefer a different placement of the cut in the animals
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Salting (problem with too much)
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Shape of the dried animal – straight or curved
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Colour preferences (from cooking and salt adding)
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Damage to body wall (cuts or abrasions)
ACIAR project
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1-year scoping study (2011)
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4-year implementation project (2013-1016)
Countries involved:
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Tonga
Ministry of Agriculture & Food, Forests and Fisheries
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Kiribati
Ministry of Fisheries & Marine Resources Development
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Fiji
Department of Fisheries
Project links and impact pathway
ACIAR-PARDI Scoping Study
2011
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Current practices?
Opportunities & constraints?
Supply chain analysis
China market study
ACIAR Implementation Project
2013-2016
Scientific output
• Report on opportunities
and constraints
• Publications on
processing practices and
markets
• Develop training programmes
• Train fishery officers and fishers in
post-harvest handling methods
• Develop a simple processing
booklet and DVD for village fishers
• Test socio-economic impacts
Non-technical output
Community Impacts
• Improved economic returns from selling
better-processed sea cucumber products
• Perhaps improved resource sustainability
through more modest fishing rate
• Perhaps greater involvement of women
through processing
Processing booklet for fishers
Non-technical output
Processing DVD for fishers
Scientific output
Publication on processing
practices and supply chains
Fisher and processor surveys
Market analysis in China
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Preferences for cutting, smoking and colour among different retailers and
consumers. What matters and what doesn’t?
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Wholesale and retail prices for sea cucumbers from the Pacific
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Other marketed sea cucumber products for tropical species
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Frozen and wrapped in half-kilo bags
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Vacuum packed and stored at ambient temperature
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Imported semi-processed (first boiled, not dried) for processing in China
Market analysis in China
Implementation project (2013-2016)
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Aim: to test socio-economic impacts of improving post-harvest processing
by village fishers
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Interventions:
1. Simple village-level manual on processing methods. Local
languages.
2. Training DVD
3. Village-based training workshops in: Tonga, Kiribati, Fiji
Implementation project (2013-2016)
Impact testing
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Test impacts by before-after comparison of data
from questionnaire surveys. E.g.:
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Income from selling sea cucumbers
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Time invested in fishing – days per week,
hours per day
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Time invested in processing the catch
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Involvement of women and other family
members
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How income is distributed in communities
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Satisfaction of fishers in income they make
Implications for other countries
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A ‘lighthouse’ project
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Would investments in other countries and
regions be worthwhile?
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What are the socio-economic benefits?
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Which interventions were most influential?
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What training techniques were most
successful?
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What types of communities benefited most?
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Is this an exercise that can aid the sustainable
use of sea cucumber resources?
End