Sea Cucumbers In Danger

I don't understand why the Eastern culture keeps finding it necessary to harvest odd or endangered sea creatures as food.

http://absci.fiu.edu/?p=222

Sorry, but after seeing sea cucumbers in person, the LAST thing they look to me is tasty

Originally Posted by LadyOfIreland

Sorry, but after seeing sea cucumbers in person, the LAST thing they look to me is tasty

I saw some snorkeling several years back, Not hungry at all.

+1, they dont even seem remotely tasty.

maybe they are like a worm..... *starts singing*..... "bite their heads off, suck their guts out, throw the skins away!! I just wish I could eat worms all three meals a day!" hehehe

I have one in my tank. I've also done a ton of research on production of them. There are tons of facilities that propagate sea cucumbers. I don't even see the need to pull them from the oceans anymore with what's available now.

I'm really open-minded normally, but eeewwww. I couldn't imagine eating my 4 little guys- too useful, too pretty and seems like it would be too much like eating a wet cigar.

According to my Mom, they taste like mushrooms. She went to a fancy banquet about Asia stuff and they served all kinds of weird crap. Personally I'd rather just have a mushroom, but people suck and they feel the need to destroy everything around them. I like living animals much more than dead ones.

Yes, its always something. I'm a Chef by trade as you may of noticed and I dine in some obscure Chinese restaurants. Most have stopped serving sea cucumber/ Bech de Mer. Believe me , its an aquired taste...Chinese Culture tends to lean towards texture and health beliefs. There are some you can't eat which tend to be toxic. My .02

Just read that their poop helps to keep the PH at a higher level for reefs.

Sea Cucumber Poo May be Key to Saving Coral Reefs : TreeHugger

Stephen Messenger
Science / Ocean Conservation
January 29, 2012


quinet/CC BY 2.0

With a name and shape more befitting of a salad-topping fruit than an ocean-faring animal, sea cucumbers are arguably one of the most striking species to roam the sea floor -- but their importance to the health of marine ecosystems is proving far more noteworthy than that unfortunate misnomer. According to researchers from the University of Sydney's One Tree Island station, tropical sea cucumber excrement could hold the key to saving the world's great coral reefs from the devastating effects of ocean acidification.

Sea cucumbers typically eat by scavenging the ocean floor for plankton or bits of other organic debris, and in so doing, they wind up swallowing and digesting a fair amount of sand. But, as it turns out, this process facilities a natural process that may be essential for preserving the health of coral by counteracting the pH level drops associated with ocean acidification.

"When they ingest sand, the natural digestive processes in the sea cucumber's gut increases the pH levels of the water on the reef where they defecate," professor Maria Byrne tells Sky News.

Additionally, another beneficial process takes place inside the gut of the humble sea cucumber -- the creation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), a building block of coral reefs.

"To survive, coral reefs must accumulate CaCO3 at a rate greater than or equal to the CaCO3 that is eroded from the reef," said Prof Byrne. "The research at One Tree Island showed that in a healthy reef, dissolution of calcium carbonate sediment by sea cucumbers and other bioeroders appears to be an important component of the natural calcium carbonate turnover."

In light of ongoing threats to the world's coral reef ecosystems, particularly along Australia's Great Barrier Reef, from ocean acidification as a result of increased carbon emissions, the importance of sea cucumbers to maintaining a healthy balance will doubtlessly be explored further.

Originally Posted by spinycheek

According to my Mom, they taste like mushrooms. She went to a fancy banquet about Asia stuff and they served all kinds of weird crap. Personally I'd rather just have a mushroom, but people suck and they feel the need to destroy everything around them. I like living animals much more than dead ones.

Originally Posted by fishchef

Yes, its always something. I'm a Chef by trade as you may of noticed and I dine in some obscure Chinese restaurants. Most have stopped serving sea cucumber/ Bech de Mer. Believe me , its an aquired taste...Chinese Culture tends to lean towards texture and health beliefs. There are some you can't eat which tend to be toxic. My .02

Glad to hear most places have stopped serving sea cucumber. Sucks though that it seems most of the food the Chinese and other Asian cultures lean towards for health benefits and texture are the types of animals we really need to help save the ecosystem, especially in our oceans and reefs.

Originally Posted by rgrking

Just read that their poop helps to keep the PH at a higher level for reefs....

Yay for sea cucumber poo!