Sandfish, or Holothuria scabra, is one of the most threatened tropical sea cucumbers because of its high price, reaching up to $1,600 per kilogram (approximately P80,800) when processed and dried into trepang or beche-de-mer which are used in exotic Asian cuisine and medicinal products. Because of the high demand for these expensive invertebrates, their natural population have drastically decreased in the recent decades. These creatures live in shallow sand flats and seagrass beds where gleaners can easily pick them up from among their close relatives, the starfishes and sea urchins. Production of sandfish, from the hatchery to the farm, is being optimized at one of the leading institutions in sandfish research – the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) based in Tigbauan, Iloilo.

Ledesma, R. (2020, May 30). Sandfish: expensive, endangered, and ecologically essential. Panay News, p. 13.