Authorities have recovered a new shipment of 41 dead sea cucumbers (taxidermized), the protected marine invertebrates cultivated as delicacies and for traditional medicine throughout Southeast Asia, worth Rs 32 lakh from Agatti Island of Lakshadweep.
Also read: 51.5 kg of sea cucumbers worth ₹ 1 crore seized in Lakshadweep
Sea cucumbers are included in Annex I of the Wildlife Protection Law that provides them with absolute protection and their commercial use is prohibited.
Lakshadweep wildlife director Damodhar AT said sea cucumbers recovered Thursday were slaughtered, processed and stored in preservatives for transport to countries like China. He added that a case has been registered and further investigations are underway to catch the culprits involved in the illegal activity.
On August 13, another shipment of 54 sea cucumbers weighing 51.5 kg and worth 1 crore rupees was seized near Agatti airport. These cases have arisen as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over all major cases of sea cucumber poaching in Lakshadweep.
“Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on air travel, a team from CBI that was supposed to visit Lakshadweep before March 28 is expected to arrive next week. They will be kept in mandatory quarantine for seven days, after which their investigation on the ground will begin, ”Damodhar said.
Forestry officials said that in both cases the sea cucumbers were stored in plastic containers with preservatives and buried in select locations, either near the airport or in jetty areas for rapid transport through international waters.
Damodhar said that illegal trade normally ceases during the monsoon, but this is the first time such shipments have recovered even during heavy rains. “Unfortunately, the plastic containers that are delivered to the fishing community for fish conservation are being used for this illegal activity and the sand helps to better store these marine products. We have sent samples of the chemical powder. [imported from Sri Lanka and used as preservatives] to the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi …[for testing]Damodar said.
Officials said that sea cucumbers are generally shipped to Kochi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, from where they are transported to countries like China via Sri Lanka. “At select locations in the southern Indian Ocean, large shipments [six to 10 tons] they are packed together in airtight material and dropped into international waters, “said Damodhar.
He added that smugglers keep track of the material through the global positioning system. “Divers on the big ships collect these shipments at these locations and the funds are simultaneously transferred via illegal web networks,” Damodhar said.
In February, the largest global seizure so far of 1,716 sea cucumbers weighing 852 kg worth 4.26 million rupees was recovered on Suheli, a remote uninhabited island about 60 km from Kavaratti, the capital of Lakshadweep.
The fresh consignment of sea cucumbers was discovered buried in plastic bags under the sand on Thursday during a beach clean-up campaign. “Education and awareness are key to banning plastics and one of the measures to address this illegal trade in the Lakshadweep Islands,” said Elsie Gabriel, National Coordinator of the Oceans Climate Reality Project.
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