Staff from the Ministry of Fisheries (MoF) and the Coastal Fisheries Programme of the Pacific Community (SPC) have just completed a six week field assessment of sea cucumber (mokohunu) populations in Vava’u, Ha’apai and Tongatapu.
![SeaCucumbersurvey2](/images/webimage/SeaCucumbersurvey2.jpg)
Sea cucumbers represent an important source of livelihood for the people of Tonga, yet the fishery has been one of ‘boom and bust’, characterised by a few years of relatively large harvests and heavy fishing pressure followed by years of very poor harvests and long-term moratoria to allow depleted stocks to recover. Most recently, a moratorium on the harvest and export of sea cucumbers was imposed in October 2015 for a period of five years due to concerns over their current status and to allow stocks to build.