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.

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.