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Commercial Sea Cucumber Stock Assessment to Determine Sustainable Quotas in Belize
ABSTRACT
The sea cucumber fishery in Belize is small-scale. Sea cucumbers have been legally harvested since the fishery opened in 2009. Then, the Belize Fisheries Department granted a limited number of sea cucumber fishing licenses and permits to sea cucumber exporters. In 2016, new management interventions were made, including size limits, gutted weight, hours of landing, and managed access requirements for sea cucumber fishing. In 2022 regulation amendments included protecting the sea cucumber spawning months, increased size limits, and designated landing sites to be determined by the Fisheries Administrator. In 2022, the fishery didn’t open pending a stock assessment completed under this project. The Belize Fisheries Department and the University of Belize conducted the sea cucumber stock assessment in March 2023 in fishing areas 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, where sea cucumbers are more abundant. In each area, sampling stations were selected using stratified random sampling based on fishery-dependent habitat selection. Twenty-two sampling stations (81 transects) measuring 100 m x 4 m (400 m2) were surveyed. Transects were run perpendicular to the coast to capture depth and habitat contour. Data collected included species, their morphometric measurements, habitat types and depths. Species found were Holothuria floridana, H. mexicana, Isostichopus badionotus, H. thomasi, and H. grisea sea cucumbers. The most abundant were H. floridana and H. mexicana, followed by I. badionotus. Both H. floridana & H. mexicana, and I. badionotus were most abundant in the Placencia lagoon and islands in front of Placencia. The total abundance for H. floridana & H. mexicana was 1,996, 938.22 (biomass 1,249 US tons) and for I. badionotus, 47,110.6 kg (biomass 51.9 US tons). Using mortality rates for both species as per the scientific literature, the Schaefer Model provided an MSY of 143,799.56 kg for H. floridana and H. mexicana and 43,834.42 kg for I. badionotus. Therefore, the quota (75% - MSY) was established to be 134,922.73 kg for H. floridana & H. mexicana and 34,704.67 for I. badionotus.
HOW TO CITE: Esquivel, K., A. Rogers, A. Quiroz, V. Alamina, M. Vargas, F. Esquivel, E. Montejo, and J. Loria, 2026. Commercial Sea Cucumber Stock Assessment to Determine Sustainable Quotas in Belize. Contribution 3.5, p149-159 IN CRFM, 2026. Volume I: Technical Papers. Presented at the CRFM 20th Anniversary Scientific Conference, 28-31 August 2023. CRFM Special Publication No. 37, CRFM Secretariat https://www.crfm.int/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=910
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