Science Advisory Report 2010/080

Assessment framework and management advice for the British Columbia giant red sea cucumber (Parastichopus californicus) fishery

Summary

• The fishery for the giant red sea cucumber in BC began in 1980, fueled by a market demand from Asia. By 1987, landings had increased dramatically and a series of management actions were implemented to control effort.
• In 1997, the fishery underwent an extensive review and was streamed into the Phased Approach for developing or data-limited fisheries. A ten-year adaptive management plan was implemented wherein commercial harvest was limited to 25% of the BC coast, and surveys and experimental fisheries were conducted to fill information gaps on biomass and productivity of the stocks.
• At the end of the period of research, the fishery progressed to Phase 2, ‘fishing for commerce’, in 2008.
• The stock assessment framework and decision rules for calculating sea cucumber biomass are described.
• Advice to fishery managers for precautionary development of the sea cucumber fishery is provided, including:
• Use the lower 90% confidence bound on biomass estimates for quota-setting;
• Survey Pacific Fishery Management Area Subareas prior to re-opening;
• Use conservative baseline density estimates to set quotas in unsurveyed Subareas that remain open from the adaptive management regime; 
• A precautionary harvest rate of 6.7% of the estimated biomass is recommended, except in Subareas of low productivity or carrying-capacity; for which the original conservative harvest rate of 4.2 % is considered conservative and sustainable;
• A limit reference point of 50% of the biomass in the unharvested state is recommended;
• As new locations are re-opened to commercial harvest, set aside a network of no-take reserves to:  protect a proportion of the stock from exploitation, provide a buffer against data uncertainties, and provide a control population in which environmental effects can be monitored independently of fishing activities.

This Science Advisory Report has resulted from the Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Pacific Regional Advisory Meeting of November 30 – December 2, 2010 on Pacific Invertebrate SubCommittee Meeting: Pink and Spiny Scallop, Sea Cucumber, Central Coast Manila Clam, Geoduck Clam Aquaculture, and Shrimp Trawl. Additional publications from this process will be posted as they become available on the DFO Science Advisory Schedule.

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