Assessment of potential production for sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus in a bicultural marine farm in Peter the Great Bay (Japan Sea)

Abstract

Marine farms in Peter the Great Bay are oriented predominantly to cultivation of bivalve mollusks that causes excessive accumulation of biodeposits in the areas of plantations. To reduce this negative impact on the ecosystem, development of bicultural farms with cultivation of flterfeeders and detritivores is recommended. In the area of mussel (Mytilus trossulus) plantations in the Sukhodol Bay, the sedimentation rate reaches 34.1 g.m–2.day–1, with mean portion of organic carbon in the biodeposits as 20.2 %. Annual biodeposition from 1 hectare of mussel plantations is about 124 t that corresponds to annual consumption of detritus by 1 million of 1-year-old sea cucumberApostichopus japonicus. By the end of the 4-year cycle of cultivation, the sea cucumbers of commercial size consume this amount of biodeposits within a month (60 g of organic carbon per year each). Production of a sea cucumber plantation with 5 million juveniles of sea cucumber settling every year can exceed 700 t in 10 years of operation, if it is mounted within the bicultural marine farm with bivalve cages as additional source of suspended organic matter.