Sea cucumber may help clean up fish farms, a new study from the University of Stirling has found.
The university’s Institute of Aquaculture found sea cucumbers thrive when feeding on organic waste produced by fish farms, thereby cleaning up farming sites while providing farmers with a secondary marketable product.
“This research shows the feeding connectivity between fish and sea cucumbers under marine commercial fish cages, which means that farming them together in an integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) system is viable,” Institute of Aquaculture Researcher Karl Cutajar said. “Our results show that sea cucumbers take up fish farm waste and how this helps the sea cucumber to grow.”
Sea cucumbers are a delicacy in Asia and in high demand, as there is a limited supply of sea cucumbers in Asia. Cutajar said the research shows European fish farmers can benefit from the introduction of sea cucumbers at their farming sites.
“Something that removes organic waste, which can have a negative impact on the seafloor, whilst being a valuable commercial product, without the need for feed input, is an exciting discovery that presents environmental and economic opportunities,” Cutajar said.
According to the University of Stirling, sea cucumbers grow in cold waters like the water nearby to the U.K. Its study, “Stable isotope and fatty acid analysis reveal the ability of sea cucumbers to use fish farm waste in integrated multi-trophic aquaculture,” was recently published in the Journal of Environmental Management. The research dives into the value and impact of farming sea cucumbers in Europe, especially in relation to processing use of marine aquaculture’s organic waste.
“There is increasing interest in IMTA systems in aquaculture, as there is in circular economy systems in other industries, as a way to find sustainable solutions to future challenges in seafood production,” Institute of Aquaculture Professor Trevor Telfer, who oversaw the research. “We are very excited by these findings.”
Photo courtesy of Roberto Pillon/University of Stirling
