Editing Sea cucumber (section)

==Procurement==
Sea cucumbers are harvested from the environment, both legally and illegally, and are increasingly farmed via [[aquaculture]]. The harvested animals are normally dried for resale.<ref name="NYT031913" /> In 2016, prices on [[Alibaba Group|Alibaba]] ranged up to {{convert|1,000|$/kg}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2016-03/02/content_23706803.htm|title=Sea cucumbers slither into US market|last=代艳|website=www.chinadaily.com.cn|access-date=2018-06-22}}</ref>

===Commercial harvest===
In recent years, the sea cucumber industry in Alaska has increased due to increased demand for the skins and muscles to China.<ref name="NF">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalfisherman.com/2008.asp?ItemID=1800&pcid=373&cid=375&archive=yes|last=Ess|first=Charlie|title=Wild product's versatility could push price beyond $2 for Alaska dive fleet|publisher=National Fisherman|access-date=2008-08-01|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122074025/http://www.nationalfisherman.com/2008.asp?ItemID=1800&pcid=373&cid=375&archive=yes|archive-date=2009-01-22}}</ref> Wild sea cucumbers are caught by divers. Wild Alaskan sea cucumbers have higher nutritional value and are larger than farmed Chinese sea cucumbers. Larger size and higher nutritional value has allowed the Alaskan fisheries to continue to compete for market share.<ref name="NF" />

One of Australia's oldest fisheries is the collection of sea cucumber, harvested by divers from throughout the [[Coral Sea]] in far [[North Queensland]], [[Torres Straits]] and [[Western Australia]]. In the late 1800s, as many as 400 divers operated from [[Cook Town, Queensland]].

[[Overfishing]] of sea cucumbers in the Great Barrier Reef is threatening their population.<ref>{{cite news |title= Overfishing threatens sea slugs: study| agency= [[Australian Associated Press|AAP]] |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/overfishing-threatens-sea-slugs-study/story-e6frgcjx-1226846325407 |newspaper= [[The Australian]] |date=March 6, 2014 |access-date= November 17, 2014}}</ref> Their popularity as luxury seafood in [[East Asia]]n countries poses a serious threat.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The cost of being valuable: predictors of extinction risk in marine invertebrates exploited as luxury seafood |journal= Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|first1=Steven W. |last1=Purcell |first2=Beth A. |last2=Polidoro |first3=Jean-François |last3=Hamel |first4=Ruth U. |last4=Gamboa |first5=Annie |last5=Mercier |doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.3296 |pmid=24598425 |date=5 March 2014 |volume=281 |issue=1781 |pages=20133296 |pmc=3953849 }}</ref>

===Black market===
As of 2013, a thriving [[Wildlife trade#Illegal wildlife trade|black market]] was driven by demand in China where {{convert|1|lb|g|order=flip}} at its peak might have sold for the equivalent of {{USD|300}}<ref name=NYT031913>{{cite news|title=Quest for Illegal Gain at the Sea Bottom Divides Fishing Communities |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/20/world/americas/quest-for-illegal-gain-at-the-sea-bottom-divides-fishing-communities.html|access-date=March 20, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 19, 2013|first=Karla |last=Zabludovsky}}</ref> and a single sea cucumber for about {{USD|160}}.<ref name= crackdown>{{cite news| url= http://www.vocativ.com/money/the1/the-sea-cucumbers-pickle-in-china/| title= China's Sea Cucumber Crackdown: President Xi Jinping puts a stop to elites' dining on rarefied and mystical delicacy| website= Vocativ.com| date= June 25, 2013| access-date= September 12, 2016| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170116040720/http://www.vocativ.com/money/the1/the-sea-cucumbers-pickle-in-china/| archive-date= January 16, 2017| url-status= dead}}</ref> A crackdown by governments both in and out of China reduced both prices and consumption, particularly among government officials who had been known to eat (and were able to afford purchasing) the most expensive and rare species.<ref name= crackdown /> In the [[Caribbean Sea]] off the shores of the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] near fishing ports such as Dzilam de Bravo, illegal harvesting had devastated the population and resulted in conflict as rival gangs struggled to control the harvest.<ref name=NYT031913 />

===Aquaculture===
{{main|Aquaculture of sea cucumber}}

[[Overexploitation]] of sea cucumber stocks in many parts of the world provided motivation for the development of sea cucumber [[aquaculture]] in the early 1980s. The Chinese and Japanese were the first to develop successful hatchery technology on ''[[Apostichopus japonicus]]'', prized for its high meat content and success in commercial hatcheries.<ref name="Baskar">James, B. D. (2004).[http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5501e/y5501e17.htm Captive breeding of the sea cucumber, ''Holothuria scabra'', from India]. In Lovatelli, A. (comp./ed.); Conand, C.; Purcell, S.; Uthicke, S.; Hamel, J.-F.; Mercier, A. (eds.) ''Advances in sea cucumber aquaculture and management''. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. No. 463. Rome, FAO. 2004.425p.</ref> Using techniques pioneered by the Chinese and Japanese, a second species, ''[[Holothuria scabra]]'', was cultured for the first time in India in 1988.<ref name="james">James, D. B., Gandhi, A. D., Palaniswamy, N., & Rodrigo, J. X. (1994).[http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/3452/Hatchery Techniques and Culture of the Sea-cucumber ''Holothuria scabra'']. CMFRI Special Publication(57),1-40.</ref> In recent years Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, Maldives, Solomon Islands and Vietnam have successfully cultured ''H. scabra'' using the same technology, and now culture other species.<ref name="Baskar" />