Dr. Annie Mercier is a Professor at the Department of Ocean Sciences of Memorial University (Canada) where she pursues wide-ranging research interests around marine benthic communities and their ...
IUCN COMMISSION GROUP
IUCN SSC Sea Cucumber Specialist Group
Overview and description
Description:
Sea cucumbers are echinoderms in the class Holothuroidea and include over 1,700 extant species. Many sea cucumber species are threatened by overfishing to supply the luxury seafood market. Other ...
Group leadership
Prof Annie MERCIER
Co-Chair
Dr. Annie Mercier is a Professor at the Department of Ocean Sciences of Memorial University (Canada) where she pursues wide-ranging research interests around marine benthic communities and their response to exogenous factors and environmental stressors. She and her team study life-history strategies and species interactions at various scales in a broad variety of taxa (echinoderms, molluscs, cnidarians) from coastal, polar and deep-sea environments. Her areas of expertise also include the management and conservation of ecologically and commercially important marine species. She is the co-chair of the IUCN SSC Sea cucumber Specialist Group and the Editor in Chief of the journal Invertebrate Reproduction and Development. As of 2023, she had co-edited 5 academic books, and co-authored more than 200 scientific publications, including over 135 peer-reviewed articles, dozens of Red List assessments and several technical reports.
Prior to her faculty position at Memorial University, Annie Mercier worked in the Indo-Pacific with her partner Jean-François Hamel, where their research on the biology of key commercial sea cucumbers, in partnership with various agencies (FAO, IUCN, CITES, CIDA, ACIAR, USDA), facilitated the development of fisheries and aquaculture programs. They have also published popular books and articles on wildlife, diving, and environmental issues, and assisted with the production of museum exhibitions and documentaries. To this day, they continue to lead research and public engagement activities on the importance of marine resources in Canada and abroad.
Prof Marie Antonette MENEZ
Co-Chair
Dr. Marie Antonette Juinio-Meñez is a Professor at the Marine Science Institute at the University of the Philippines, and a member of the National Academy of Science & Technology of the Philippines. She is recognized for her contributions in marine ecology conservation and policy. Her research focuses on the biology and ecology of commercially important marine invertebrates (e.g. spiny lobsters, giant clams, sea urchins, sea cucumbers) and nearshore ecosystems. With her students and collaborators, they conduct research on larval development, recruitment dynamics, population genetics; biophysical modelling and behavioural ecology. She is engaged in transdisciplinary development and training programs on community-based coastal resources management, sustainable mariculture, stock restoration and local environmental governance. She has over 90 peer- reviewed scientific publications, several book chapters, conference proceedings and training manuals. She has been part of regional and international expert groups on marine biodiversity and scientific research. She is the co-chair of the IUCN SSC Sea cucumber Specialist Group. She has mentored over 30 MSc and PhD graduates, and many other researchers and management practitioners.
Dr. Marie Antonette Juinio-Meñez is a Professor at the Marine Science Institute at the University of the Philippines, and a member of the National Academy of Science & Technology of the Philippines ...
More about the Specialist Group
This specialist group works not only on assessments but on a concerted effort to generate more data, exchange knowledge, and help implement management measures that can benefit marine conservation more broadly. International trade for sea cucumber is intense, is thought to be rapidly increasing in both diversity and scale, and has been recorded in at least 70 countries. While sea cucumbers are largely traded on seafood markets in Asia, there is also a growing demand from pharmaceutical and nutraceutical markets, and crime involving sea cucumber is on the rise. Due to the broad diversity of sea cucumber species, many of which remain poorly known, and the existence of region-specific threats, conservation initiatives are necessary both at global and regional scales.
MISSION
Raise global awareness of sea cucumbers, including their role in marine ecosystems and the many threats they face, and help expand the knowledge base necessary to ensure their protection worldwide, especially for commercially exploited species, through education, networking and training initiatives, systematic reviews, scientific research, and the update and expansion of conservation status records.
Specialist Group work
Sustainable Use
This segment focuses on the commercial exploitation and aquaculture of sea cucumbers. We plan to work with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to update the available knowledge on and the status of commercial sea cucumbers (including compiling the work of regional groups).
Group Lead: Dr Steven Purcell (Southern Cross University).
Regional Groups
We will create working groups that will (i) review threats/pressures on and (ii) management measures (and their implementation) for sea cucumber conservation by region.
Red List Assessment
We will undertake a review of the IUCN assessment criteria in light of the specificities and life-history strategies of sea cucumbers, and move on to assess more species, in order to minimise the use of Data Deficient category. This will be led by group members who are trained in Red Listing.
Group Lead: Dr Veronica Toral-Granda (Charles Darwin University).
Taxonomy & Systematics
Because there are many issues around the misidentification or problematic classification of key sea cucumber species, we aim to facilitate reviews and clarifications with the help of expert taxonomists.
Group Lead: Prof. Maria Byrne (University of Sydney).
Information & Communication
This segment focuses on reviewing and updating current knowledge on sea cucumbers that is available to the public and to develop a conservation page in the SPC Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin. It will also aim to maintain links with FAO, regional fisheries management organizations, and other relevant bodies, and handle general media relations.
Group Lead: Dr Emaline Montgomery (Fisheries & Oceans Canada).
Projects of the Specialist Group
- A book on the important commercial species Holothuria scabra was published.
- A new edition of the FAO publication on “Commercially important sea cucumbers of the world” was published.
- The book “The World of Sea Cucumber – Challenges, Advances, and Innovations” was published.
- Sea cucumber fishery surveys were completed in June 2023 in French Polynesia. Through the PROTÉGÉ program funded by the European Union, a consortium of researchers has undertaken the fieldwork for a fishery assessment project in the Tuamotu islands in French Polynesia. The team includes CREOCEAN, Ginger-Soproner, the Department of Marine Resources French Polynesia and Southern Cross University. The recent dive surveys in conjunction with state-of-the-art spatial mapping will determine the abundance and biomass of the sea cucumber stocks on the atoll, comprising more than 700 km2. A principal outcome of the project will be recommendations to the national fishery department about a re-opening of the fishery. Provided by S. Purcell.
Steve Purcell, researcher, holding one of the prickly redfish sea cucumbers (Thelenota ananas) that was encountered on the underwater surveys at Apataki atoll, French Polynesia. The species is recently listed on CITES Appendix II. Photo by Antoine Gilbert.
Photo: Antoine Gilbert
Antoine Gilbert, a researcher, encounters a white teatfish (Holothuria fuscogilva) on one of the survey transects at Apataki atoll, French Polynesia. The species is listed on CITES Appendix II (since 2019). Photo by S. W. Purcell
Photo: S. W. Purcell
