1. The innovative management of sea-cucumber fisheries:
8th Heads of Fisheries Meeting
March 2013
SPC, Nouméa
The innovative management
of sea-cucumber fisheries:
Experience from New Caledonia and Vanuatu
Marc Léopold, Pascal Dumas & Serge Andréfouët - IRD Nouméa (COREUS 2)
Nathaniel Cornuet & Zacharie Moenteapo - Fisheries Department of
the Northern Province, New Caledonia
Sompert Gereva, Jason Raubani, Jayven Ham - Vanuatu Fisheries Department

2. Contents Vanuatu Fisheries Department’s viewpoint :
A new strategy for SK fisheries
is achievable in South Pacific countries
S.Gereva, VFD
2. A new management framework for SK fisheries :
Methodological and technical considerations
M.Léopold, IRD

3. Contents Vanuatu Fisheries Department’s viewpoint :
A new strategy for SK fisheries
is achievable in South Pacific countries
S.Gereva, VFD
2. A new management framework for SK fisheries :
Methodological and technical considerations
M.Léopold, IRD

4. 11 The recent story… VFD has developed a new management strategy
West central Pacific : boom and decline of sea-cucumber fisheries since the 1980s (high demand # resource abundance)
Vanuatu : national moratorium in 2008 due to overexploitation
 Ban extended for 5 years
in January 2013
despite strong political and
economic lobbying
If we have a glance at bêche-de-mer exports by country the Pacific, we can see that they have markedly varied over time, with a sharp rise in the early 80s (from ~0 to about 2000 t/year in the 1990s!!). And then it dropped to about 1000 t/year.
Indeed, exports are driven BOTH by the demand from China and by prices on the world market, AND by resource abundance, which is very sensitive to overfishing. 11
VFD has developed a new management strategy
for SK fisheries

5. 12 How has SK fisheries management changed ?
1) Local experience comes from the success story of the co-management of a sandfish fishery in New Caledonia since 2008.
2) A partnership has been built with the IRD and the Fisheries Division of the Northern Province, New Caledonia to operationalize stock assessment.
3) The challenge was to scale-up the approach in Vanuatu 12
Using biomass stock estimates to set TAC per species and per (small) area at the national level

6. The chain of learning…
1) SK identification training (2011) – SPC
2) Assessment methods (2011) – IRD
 Stock biomass estimates (SK size required)
 SK density is not appropriate to set TAC : density thresholds are highly variable between sites, ecological knowledge is not available for each fishery !
3) Mapping (GIS) – SPC / IRD (2012)  Spatial approach
4) User-oriented BDMer Database – IRD / Northern Province NC (2012)
 Automatically estimate stocks for each species and each fishery
5) Draft of the SK fisheries national management plan – SPC / IRD (2010 cont.) 13
The VFD have the capacities to assess stock biomass and to implement appropriate management regulations (TAC)

7. 14 Short-term perspectives…
1) Stock biomass has been estimated for 15 species in 7 fisheries since 2011
 Current biomass is low to very low
for most species in all sites
2) Additional surveys will be conducted in 2013 (Aneytium Island, etc.)
3) The BDMer Database will be finalized
4) The national management plan will be finalized (eg. minimum size limits)
5) Small TACs may be authorized for some low value species in restricted areas (eg. Lollyfish in South Malekula ?)
6) The same strategy is currently being conducted in New Caledonia
by the Fisheries Division of the Northern Province (technical partnership) 14
Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s experience may be used in other South Pacific countries…

8. 2 Contents Vanuatu Fisheries Department’s viewpoint :
A new strategy for SK fisheries
is achievable in South Pacific countries
S.Gereva, VFD
2. A new management framework for SK fisheries :
Methodological and technical considerations
M.Léopold, IRD 2

9. 21 The local management procedure for SK fisheries
10-25 transect/km²
Stratified sampling 21
This ideal procedure should be rationalized with the local fisheries and capacities.

10. 22 Management capacities :
1) Technical capacities available to government agencies
(GIS, sampling design, data analysis…) have been increasing
in most Pacific countries (eg, New Caledonia, Vanuatu)
2) Enforcement capacities : restrict open fishing seasons (time & space) and involve fishers, buyers & processors
3) Management costs :
 Start-up costs (mapping, satellite picture): $ / km²
 Recurrent monitoring costs :
- stock biomass : 150 – 500 $ / km²
- catch : 60 – 200 $ / km²
eg New Caledonia ~ 240 $/km² % to 2 % of returns from sandfish catches
 Management costs should be shared and rationalized to expected catches. 22
The management procedure is NOT appropriate for ALL SK fisheries.

11. 23 Some management highlights… Let’s be optimistic ?...
1) Implement the management procedure for key SK fisheries,
including TAC per species and per area (NOT at the provincial level)
2) Biomass stock estimate should be used BEFORE a moratorium may be lifted (eg, density is NOT enough !)
3) For small / low value SK fisheries :
- Use restricted open fishing seasons (time, space, species) to reduce management costs and improve enforcement
eg, 5 days / 2-5 years
- Assess stock biomass (low frequency of surveys)
- Monitor sales 23
Let’s be optimistic ?...

12. Experience from New Caledonia and Vanuatu
8th Heads of Fisheries Meeting
March 2013
SPC, Nouméa
Experience from New Caledonia and Vanuatu
THANK YOU !
Marc Léopold, Pascal Dumas & Serge Andréfouët - IRD Nouméa (COREUS 2)
Nathaniel Cornuet & Zacharie Moenteapo - Fisheries Department of
the Northern Province, New Caledonia
Sompert Gereva, Jason Raubani, Jayven Ham - Vanuatu Fisheries Department