Galician Minister Rosa Quintana at the presentation of the results of the Holoplus project.

Sea cucumber, a previously discarded species that today is a source of income

SPAIN
Thursday, January 17, 2019, 01:30 (GMT + 9)

The head of the Ministry of Marine Affairs of Galicia, Rosa Quintana, praised the ability of the Galician fishing sector to reinvent itself, so as to take advantage of species that until recently the fleet discarded for its low commercial value, and for which it is now looking multiple outlets in the market, as is the case of holoturia.

The holoturia or sea cucumber is one of the most important accidental catches of the Galician coastal trawling fleet and the Gran Sol fleet, to which the fishing and processing sector of Galicia found different business solutions and multiple outputs within the framework of the project Holoplus - Innovative actions for the consolidation of the exploitation and international commercialization of sea cucumber, led by the association of shipowners ARVI.

Quintana highlighted during the opening of the day of presentation of the results of this investigation that the same sea cucumber path can be followed in the future by other resources that were previously discarded, such as marujito, abalone or zapata.

The work of the Galician fishing sector to give value and commercial outlet to sea cucumber began in 2014 with the Hologal project, to which was added in 2016 the Holoplus project, which served to consolidate the results obtained until then and move towards exploitation and international marketing of this resource.

The Project "Holoturias, new marine resource of Galicia - HOLOGAL ", had as a main result that a resource that it was discarding is being sold for a price higher than 2.00.- € / Kg.  After the opening of the Asian market thanks to the HOLOGAL new needs and challenges emerge: standardization of processes and formats, knowledge for exploitation sustainable, development of specific machinery, etc

The Galician Conxejeira said that the advances of this research have allowed sea cucumber to be taken to the kitchens of the great international chefs, and also to contribute their qualities to different pharmaceutical preparations. Thanks to this, it has gone from having an incipient presence in the market to consolidate an entire industry.

Galicia started to exploit the sea cucumber in 2015 and the Galician markets went from marketing about 6,800 kilos in that year to exceed 150,000 kg in 2018, which means multiplying by 22 the catches.

Xunta de Galicia promotional section for sea cucumber

Meanwhile, revenues from sales increased from around EUR 17,000 to close to EUR 250,000 in 2018, with which the collection increased by more than 14.

Sea cucumber exploitation plans have also been increasing since the Xunta regulated its capture, and this year there are five approved: those of the guilds of Vigo, Cangas, O Grove, Aldán and a set of Barallobre and A Coruña.

Sea  cucumbers  imported  to Hong  Kong  and  countries  with large Asiatic community

In Quintana's opinion, the Holoplus project is an example of research to eliminate discards and take full advantage of fishing resources.

"Today the sea cucumber has its place in the commercial distribution and sale channels and the number of exploitation plans increases year after year," she said. She also stressed that there are already many companies that are working on the sea cucumber transformation and marketing, both in Spain and in other countries for fresh consumption or after dehydration.

Used  in  traditional  Chinese  medicine: antimicrobial,  antioxidant,  and anticancer properties

Finally, the head of the Ministry of the Sea thanked "the involvement and work" of the partners of this project (ARVI, INPROMAR, Josmar Workshops, Eire Pesca, ANFACO and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography of Vigo), and financial support of the Galician Innovation Agency that, within the framework of the European Regional Development Fund, promoted an initiative of a sector "strategic for Galicia: the one of the products of the sea".

editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media

Print