Sea cucumber farming hurting Bohai Bay's marine life

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-09-11

A sea cucumber. (File photo/CFP)

The considerable amount of quicklime and antibiotics used in sea cucumber farming has severely polluted northern China's Bohai Bay, pushing a lot of marine life to the brink of extinction.

Sea cucumber farmers harvest once every five years on average. They drain the water, collect the matured sea cucumbers and then use quicklime as an anti-bacterial agent to "clean up" the mud in the fishing grounds. The quicklime, together with all other waste materials, is released without any treatment into the ocean.

The corrosive chemicals commonly used in sea cucumber farming pose a threat not only to marine species but also to migratory seabirds. Every time sea cucumber farmers discharge wastewater into the ocean, dead fish can be found floating in surrounding waters.

Another serious source of pollution comes from the antibiotics used for sea cucumber cultivation. To reduce the mortality rate of sea cucumber larvae, sea cucumber farmers use anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial agents to protect the larvae against disease.

They also use other chemicals to kill marine species that might compete for food, which has further worsened the quality of seawater in surrounding areas.

A reporter from the state-run China News Service who visited a sea cucumber farm saw the ground littered with empty cylinders and bottles which had previously contained antibiotics and chemicals. He said it was shocking to bump into these "marine life killers" everywhere.

The sea cucumber farming industry has developed rapidly over recent years due to the pursuit of economic interests from the Liaodong peninsula to the Shandong peninsula. All the wetlands have been transformed into sea cucumber farms, some of which are even encroaching upon the National Ocean Reserve area. The eutrophication of the surrounding ocean is so serious that even mullet and shrimps have disappeared from the area.