| Summary | Sea cucumber (Isostichopus fuscus) inhabits rocky reefs in shallow coastal waters (2 - 40m depth) from the Gulf of California to Ecuador, and around many Pacific islands including the Galapagos. |
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| Project | SESMAD |
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| Subtype | Natural Resource Unit |
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| Sector | Marine protected areas |
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| Biotic | Yes |
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| Explanation | |
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| Commons Aggregation | Population |
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| Explanation | Population
Brown sea cucumber (Isostichopus fuscus).
Manged as region stocks as opposed to the archipelago stock as a whole. |
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| Commons Boundaries | Clear boundaries (3) |
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| Explanation | Found in the coastal zone at 28-39 m depth.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5501e/y5501e0e.htm |
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| Commons Indicator | ["Status of species targeted by fisheries"] |
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| Explanation | This species (Isostichopus fuscus) is the most common commercial species found in the Eastern Pacific (Maluf, 1988) and was once known as the most conspicuous invertebrate of the shallow littoral zone in the Galapagos Islands (Wellington, 1974). |
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| Commons Unit Size | Small (2) |
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| Explanation | Adults 20-30cm, with suggested lifespan of 12-17 years. |
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| Environmental Medium | Oceanic |
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| Explanation | Oceanic
Shallow coastal waters (2-40m depth) |
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| Inter Annual Predictability | Moderate (2) |
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| Explanation | Sea cucumbers are density-dependent for reproduction - and the minimum density required is unknown. They take approximately 4 years to mature. Recruitment rates vary due to climate and oceanic conditions (e.g. el nino) |
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| Intra Annual Predictability | High (3) |
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| Explanation | With no fishing, little variation in numbers within a given year
Density-dependent for reproduction - and density required is unknown. |
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| Commons Renewability | Renewable (1) |
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| Explanation | Sea cucumbers are renewable, however exhibit very low reproductive and recruitment capacity. (Hearn et al., 2005) |
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| Productivity | Moderately Productive (2) |
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| Explanation | Sea cucumber fisheries are popular throughout the Indo-Pacific but are prone to over-exploitation. Coded as moderately productive, as their productivity could be considere higher than turtles or whales which have been coded as poorly prodcutive.
Low sea cucumber densities do not allow for spawning aggregations necessary for high reproductive rates, resulting in low fertilization rates. Breeding success is directly related to densities of adult individuals, and stocks are consistently below legal threshold. (Hearn et al., 2005) |
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| Commons Accessibility | Very accessible (3) |
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| Explanation | Sea cucumbers inhabit shallow coastal waters and are conspicuous and lsow moving making them accessible given a boat and diving equipment. |
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| Commons Heterogeneity | Moderate (2) |
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| Explanation | found in shallow coastal waters and distributed around all islands of the archipelago in varying densities. |
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| Commons Mobility | Medium (2) |
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| Explanation | Sea cucumbers are slowly mobile, with little movement of sea cucumbers between islands. |
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| Commons Spatial Extent | 133000 |
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| Explanation | coded as the spatial extent of the GMR.
Although Isostichopus fuscus is found across the Eastern Pacific http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5501e/y5501e0e.htm
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| Technical Substitute | No |
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| Explanation | |
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