Fishery biology of the sea cucumber Parastichopus californicus (Stimpson, 1857) from the San Juan Islands, Washington

Abstract

In the Northeast Pacific Ocean, the fishery potential of the California (or giant red) sea cucumber Parastichopus californicus (Stimpson, 1857) (Echinodermata: Aspidochirotida: Stichopodidae) was first identified in late 19th century reports prepared by government officials tasked with commoditizing novel marine resources (e.g., Swan 1886); however, viable commercial fisheries for P. californicus along the U. S. West Coast and the Pacific Coast of Canada were not established until nearly a century later (Bradbury 1990; Muse 1998) following the serial exploitation of sea cucumber fisheries elsewhere in the Pacific (Anderson et al. 2011). Initially managed passively during the 1970s and 1980s, these fisheries (gear types: diving and trawling) peaked about 25 years ago when annual landings of P. californicus exceeded four million pounds in Washington State alone (Bradbury and Conand 1991; Bradbury 1994; Carson et al. 2016). Recognizing that a turnabout from ineffectual management was needed, jurisdictions in the region began actively managing their sea cucumber fisheries in the mid-1990s. By the close of the 20th century, natural resource authorities coast-wide had implemented practices such as quota allocation systems based on catch histories and routine stock assessments, gear and harvest area restrictions and, in some jurisdictions, limiting entry to better manage P. californicus fisheries in the region (Woodby et al. 1993; Bradbury et al. 1998; Bruckner 2005; Hajas et al. 2011; Carson et al. 2016).