Rising sea cucumber prices drive cultivation

The Dalian-based Homey Group International in the past year built an offshore artificial reef for cultivating sea cucumber by throwing 150,000 cubic meters of stone in 1,000 acres of sea. “The culture grounds can provide sea cucumber over 5 millions in one season,” explained a company spokesperson.

Another explanation for higher demand, says Sun Xia, is an expected shortage of supply in autumn given the fall off in supply from Southern China after the key spring harvest. 

“Southern sea cucumber producers have not solved the problem of how to cultivate in warmer summer weather … therefore we still only have one season per year.”  

Despite optimism on prices, beche mere producers also face potential risks, including a downturn of the sea cucumber demand and price due to a weaker Chinese economy. Any increase in yields is also threatened by the “fluctuation of the survival rate and potential risk of water pollution and extreme natural disasters.”

Local producers also face competition from better quality wild imports, particularly from Alaska and Canada. Demand remains strong for wild Alaska sea cucumbers, which are typically larger and have higher nutritional value than farmed Chinese sea cucumbers.??