However, we cannot just focus on molluscs, we need to open other fronts. Recently, we showed a beautiful example of how mariculture is advancing in the country.
A Redemar Alevinos, founded in 2008 by Pedro Antonio dos Santos and Claudia Kerber, in Ilhabela, is a pioneer in the creation of grouper and cobia fry. Claudia, specialized in marine fish physiology and veterinary science, helped the company adapt to different farming systems, both small and large scale in Brazil.
Once you have the fry, the big “X” in the problem of fish production, farming becomes much easier. Thus, in 2012, in Alcobaça, south of Bahia, the Prime Seafood, the first marine farm on land in Brazil. The company sells half of the country’s live lobsters. His greatest achievement is developing techniques for raising fish in tanks, focusing on the true grouper.
Sea cucumber farming
We have already shown that they are so valuable in Asia that they have faced overfishing and even smuggling, involving none other than the Yakuza. About 1,711 species are known. The majority are located in the Asia-Pacific region. In the deep oceans, sea cucumbers dominate among invertebrates. The animal feeds on waste from other organisms that accumulate at the bottom.
Today, in China, dried sea cucumbers are sold for 300/400 euros per kilo. The highest quality ones reach 5,000 dollars per kilo, estimates Mercedes Gonzalez-Wanguemert, from Center for Marine Sciences at the University of Algarve.
Smuggling also occurs in Brazil, especially in the region of Angra dos Reis and Paraty. Japan is another country that, despite its high level of education, does not seem to care much about the most important ecosystem on Earth. In addition to kill whales It is dolphinsalso participate in the illegal sea cucumber trade.
According to NextShark, accused a Yamaguchi-gumi chief of possessing 60 tons of sea cucumber and fined him 100 million yen ($912,000) in 2017. They recently arrested five Yamaguchi-gumi members with 450 kg of sea cucumbers.
This information is important for the lay reader to realize the immense demand that exists for these animals.
The stage of creations in Brazil
O Commerce Newspaper, from March 2024, informs that the attempts began in 2019 by the company Epagri (Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company), a public company linked to the Government of the State of Santa Catarina, and the University of Vale do Itajaí. This year, they produced and planted the first larvae in the sea of Penha. Now, they are monitoring its evolutionary process.
Gilberto Mazoni, Oceanographer and professor at Univali, told Jornal do Comércio: We had a lot of difficulty last year, mainly due to the maturation condition of the organisms. But this year we managed to spawn. We have the larvae at a more advanced stage and are already fixing them.
According to the website of Epagri, divided the research into two phases; one already completed and the other starting. “It is still too early to say whether we will be successful in creating a technology that allows the cultivation of this animal on the coast of Santa Catarina, but the initial results are promising”, explains Guilherme Rupp, researcher at the Center for Development in Aquaculture and Fisheries (Epagri/Cedap) and project coordinator.
Animal meat has proven nutraceutical properties
Guilherme explains that this interest is not so much due to the flavor of the meat, which can be characterized as mild. On the other hand, the animal’s meat has proven nutraceutical and pharmacological properties, being widely used in traditional oriental medicine as an anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic agent. Antitumor, antiviral and antibacterial activities have also been proven in the laboratory, in addition to being rich in collagen. Due to these characteristics, it is a raw material of interest to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.
The second stage of the research began in 2022, which continues until the end of 2024, with funding from Fapesc. The proposal is to develop technology for fully cultivating sea cucumbers, using one of the three species identified on the coast of Santa Catarina. The researcher reveals that developing such technology constitutes a major challenge, because this is a new species for aquaculture. The research consists of several stages, “each with its specific protocols, which need to be developed”.
The study was successful in inducing spawning in the laboratory and cultivating the larvae until the metamorphosis stage. The second stage of the research is being carried out in mariculture areas in the municipality of Penha, on the north coast of Santa Catarina. Between the spring of 2022 and the summer of 2023, integrated farming experiments with oysters were started in two systems, one suspended and one on the seabed.
We stay here, cheering.
