ABSTRACT
The echinoderm fishery is small in scale. But global analyses reveal alarmingly high incidences of overexploitation and depletion of stocks of sea cucumbers, urchins and other incidental biological resources of the coral reefs. The scientific and technical intervention for the development of small scale aquaculture of sea cucumbers and urchins seems to be the only option. The capture fisheries of the cucumbers and urchins depend on manual collection. Since 2005, aquaculture production of sea cucumbers has commenced; ~ 5,000 tons of the cucumbers are being produced. An equal amount of urchins are also produced from aquaculture. The urchins are positively amenable for captive rearing and aquaculture for longer durations, especially with reference to reproductive performance and selective breeding for stock improvement. As sea urchin aquaculture is in its infancy, there is considerable scope for research to overcome bottlenecks and obstacles for the cost effective, commercial production of sea urchins.
