Sea Cucumber

In Context

• Indian Coast Guard seized live Sea Cucumbers about 120 nautical miles off Kavaratti Island in Lakshadweep.

What is a Sea Cucumber?

• They are an important constituent of the marine ecosystem as they play an important role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem. 
• It has no limbs or eyes, or blood.
• There are some 1,250 known species, and many of these animals are shaped like soft-bodied cucumbers. 
• Demand: Sea cucumbers are in high demand in China and Southeast Asia, where they are consumed as food and used in medicine. 
  • This endangered species is primarily smuggled from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka.

Image Courtesy: Live Science 

• Utility 
  • By excreting inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus, they enhance the productivity of benthic animals – those living on the ocean floor.   
  • Role in Coral Reef preservation: One of the by-products of the sea cucumber’s digestion of sand is calcium carbonate, a key component of coral reef. 
    • To survive, coral reefs must accumulate calcium carbonate, and thus sea cucumbers play a vital role in their preservation.   
  • Contain high levels of a chemical called fucosylated glycosaminoglycan in their skin, which people across Asia have been using to treat joint problems like arthritis for centuries, 
  • In Europe, people are using it to treat certain cancers and to reduce blood clots. 

• Protection:
  • Protected under Schedule I under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972 so their trade is banned. 
  • The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change imposed a total ban on harvesting and transporting sea cucumbers in 2001.

• First conservation area:

• Lakshadweep has created the world’s first conservation area for sea cucumbers.
• Other than the sea around Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman Nicobar Islands, the Gulf of Mannar at the confluence of the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal in Tamil Nadu is also home to sea cucumbers.

Source: TH