EPA says against harvesting sea cucumbers by scuba diving

Years ago, in the 1990s, scuba diving for sea cucumbers was banned for fear of a severe population decline and extinction. So far, the rule has remained unchanged, but the amendment to the General Fisheries Regulations, which was released on Tuesday, allows for diving to harvest sea cucumber.

This move was not very popular with environmentalists.

"We don't accept that. We banned it earlier because the sea cucumber population was declining. But now allowing it to be dived and caught again could create that same situation," Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Director General Ibrahim Naeem said on Wednesday.

Naeem said the Fisheries Ministry changed an old rule without consulting the EPA. Before allowing such a thing, it is important to conduct a relevant study and understand the current situation, he said.

Naeem speculates that, since for so long, scuba diving to harvest sea cucumbers had been banned, it is likely to have increased in number by now. By allowing scuba diving now, he said, when more people start doing it, the number of sea cucumbers is likely to decrease again.

But the Ministry of Fisheries, which drafted the rule, has a different view.

The Ministry's Director General Adam Ziyadh said the ban on scuba diving to harvest sea cucumbers had not been implemented although the regulation was made years ago. So, to this day, many people have been harvesting sea cucumbers by scuba diving.

“Honestly, most people don’t even know it’s prohibited,” he said.

He said a fine of MVR 200 was levied as a punishment for scuba diving for sea cucumbers. However, if a heavy fine is imposed and scuba diving is banned, a large part of the income of those who do so will be lost, he said.

“We have allowed this at the request of many fishermen,” he said.

Although scuba diving for harvesting has long been banned in view of the possibility of a decline in the number of sea cucumbers, its population trends have never been measured. Therefore, the amount of sea cucumber available in the seas of Maldives is known only through the information given by the fishermen, Ziyadh said.

However, under the new rules, the fishery will be allowed too extensively and measures to reduce the depletion of sea cucumbers is being discussed, he said. Ziyadg added: