Instead of raising just one marine species, like salmon or tilapia, farmers practicing IMTA reduce waste by cultivating multiple species from different levels of the food chain - from sea cucumbers to mussels to kelp. These initiatives are part of a broader movement - called “ Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture” (IMTA) - to redesign fish farms so they work more like biologically diverse natural ecosystems than like highly polluting monocultures. Such efforts, say experts, could help reduce demand for wild sea cucumbers, which are being fished to the point of extinction in some places, including in India and in Mexico. Once aquaculturists build up enough stock, they can sell a portion of their sea cucumbers for human consumption, providing another source of revenue for their farms. Now, a modest but growing number of seafood farmers across Europe, North America, and elsewhere are raising sea cucumbers to act as living Roombas in tanks, cages, and ponds. Now, Anderson is letting these slimy organisms perform the same service at Kauai Sea Farm.Īs an alternative, fish farms can culture sea cucumbers along with their finfish and shellfish to improve water quality and increase overall productivity, a wide body of research suggests. Sand they excrete is cleaner than sand they consume, which is why sea cucumbers are often called “the true vacuums of the sea floor,” says Arnold Rakaj, a marine biologist at the University of Rome. In the wild, sea cucumbers roam the sea floor, hoovering up sand and digesting the fish waste, algae, and other organic matter it contains. Instead, this bottom-dwelling echinoderm is the newest member of the fish farm’s cleaning crew. But the sea cucumber in Anderson’s hands isn’t for eating - at least, not yet. Anderson is the production manager of this small commercial operation, which raises mullet, barracuda, tilapia, and other seafood for sale to local restaurants. Around 70 feet below the surface, he finds his prize: a red sea cucumber.Īnderson plucks the spiky creature from the sea floor and, after a brief boat ride, delivers it to a glistening 18-acre pond at the Kauai Sea Farm, on the island’s southwest coast. Sea turtles glide lazily through the surf while schools of fluorescent yellow butterflyfish weave between basketball-size sea urchins and sharp corals.īut Dave Anderson isn’t distracted by the otherworldly charm of the coral reef - he’s here on a mission. Off the coast of the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, an underwater metropolis bustles.
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