This month we’ll talk about sea cucumbers. Sea cucumbers are marine animals found on the seafloor worldwide. About 1, 250 different sea cucumbers are found worldwide with the greatest numbers found in the Asia Pacific region.
Sea cucumbers serve a useful purpose in the marine ecosystem as they help recycle nutrients. Sea cucumbers have male and female and during spawning season, usually in June, July and August, sea cucumbers travel to the top of the reef structures and release their gametes into the surrounding currents. Once the fertilization occurs in the water column, the fertilized egg develops into a free-swimming larva after three days of development. It swims about 10-40 days before settling on the bottom and the metamorphosing into a baby sea cucumber. According to traditional Chinese medicine, the sea cucumber nourishes the blood and vital essence, treats disorders of the kidney system, including reproductive organs, and moistens dryness, especially of the intestines. It has a salty quality and warming nature. Common uses include treating weakness, impotence, debility of the aged, constipation due to intestinal dryness, and frequent urination. Sea cucumber is traditionally served in the form of a soup. For nutrition, sea cucumber is an ideal tonic food with higher protein (at 55%) than most any other foods except egg whites (at 99%), and it is lower in fat than most foods (less than 2%). For modern applications, the dried or extracted sea cucumber is useful as a nutritional supplement, prepared in capsules or tablets. The fully dried material has a protein concentration as high as 83%. From the Western medical viewpoint, the sea cucumber is valuable as a rich source of the polysaccharide condroiton sulfate to reduce arthritis inflammation. It is said that as little as 3 grams per day of the dried sea cucumber has been helpful in significantly reducing arthritis. Sea cucumbers are harmless. Unfortunately, they are good to eat and are considered a delicacy by many cultures. Did you know that a ton of dried sea cucumbers will fetch as much as a million dollars in some countries? This has lead to uncontrolled exploitation of sea cucumbers around the world. In some places they have almost completely disappeared. Several projects (e.g Solomon Island) are currently underway to start growing sea cucumbers in aquaculture farms to try and reduce the fishing pressure on sea cucumbers. Sea cucumbers are seriously endangered in many parts of the world. As all other marine creatures, it is essential to protect both the Sea Cucumbers themselves and their environment to ensure the continuing survival of diversity in the oceans.