Ocean Sentry
(From mathaba.net) Following an impassioned hue and cry about sea cucumber harvesting, resident environmentalists on the Indian Ocean Island of Rodrigues, citing overexploitation, petitioned for a moratorium.
But, neither the stonewalling regional government nor the strangely muted opposition seem keen to rock the fishermen”s boat.
Following an impassioned hue and cry about sea cucumber harvesting, resident environmentalists on the Indian Ocean Island of Rodrigues, citing overexploitation, petitioned for a moratorium. But, neither the stonewalling regional government nor the strangely muted opposition seem keen to rock the fishermen’s boat.
A simple search of the sea cucumber trade around the world brings to light a murky business, steeped in kickbacks, poaching, corruption and black marketeering. It looks as if there’s more to these little sea slugs (holothurians) than meets the eye.
Consumed as a delicacy or an aphrodisiac
As the world’s sea cucumber numbers dwindle, and demand from Asia increases, the market value of bêche-de-mer, as its processed form is called, enters the realm of some serious money. It’s consumed as a delicacy, taken as an aphrodisiac, or used in traditional medicine for its anti-inflammatory agents. Since the eighties, trade in bêche-de-mer has been brisk and lucrative. In Hong Kong or Singapore, a low value product can generate (U$10) 280 Rupees a kg, while a high grade one can fetch up to (U$50) 1400 rupees a kg. International Traders get slightly less, exporters lesser still, and Rodriguan fishermen get – less than 3 Rupees a kg – or 100 Rupees for a 40 kg tin. At that cold-blooded price, the entire yearly 60-ton-quota (illegal trade excluded) collectively earns the fishermen 150,000 Rupees. Or, when divvied up among hundreds of them – chicken feed. The figures don’t jell. Let’s recap: chronic damage to the lagoon’s bionetwork and the life of millions of animals snuffed out – for less than the price of a cheap bottle of whisky each. The stench is unmistakable.
Here’s the odd thing. If, Rodriguans were stuck with this state sanctioned looting, what was so inconceivable with a cooperative of the local fishermen processing and exporting their own catch? Oh, and have I mentioned that this wasn’t a contract to build stealth bombers? Here, no high technology, sophisticated fishing techniques, or huge capital outlays were needed; the whole process entailed picking up sea cucumbers at low tide, gutting, boiling, and drying them in the sun. Once dried, bêche-de-mer keeps for years. So, in a seller’s market, how hard can it be to pack them in a container and offload them to a trader in Singapore or Taiwan? How does handing out free licences to six outside companies, to blow-in and bleed a limited resource dry, line their pockets and take off once it’s all gone, benefit the people of Rodrigues? Frankly, it’s wacky logic. Remember the pre-election promises to encourage small Rodriguan entrepreneurs? Remember all the talk of economic independence? What happened? Hmm, we get it. To talk the talk is one thing; walking the talk afterwards is a monstrously different other. Hopefully, this is not indicative of things to come, otherwise, our people may well be holding out the rice bowl for the next thousand year.
