6 days ago
High demand, low pay: The cost of Kenya's cucumber trade
STORY: These fishermen in the southern Kenyan village of Shimoni are preparing for a day at sea.
They're on the hunt for sea cucumbers, small marine animals that are worth a fortune in Asian markets.
Although the Kenyan government banned scuba diving for sea cucumbers in 2003, the practice continued, driven by poverty and global demand.
Sea cucumbers are considered a delicacy in Asia and can fetch up to $300 a kilo in Hong Kong.
But local divers will likely earn just a few dollars per kilo.
Although the trade has allowed some, like Alfred Kazungu, to support their families, there are fears of overfishing.
"When sea cucumbers had little value, we used to see many of them. But once the price went up, it became harder to find them — you'd go out and only come across one or two. The high market price has encouraged fishermen to harvest them more aggressively, rather than waiting for their numbers to increase. It's the good price that's driving this overfishing."
Conservationists are also concerned about the dire ecological consequences overfishing will have.
Here's Remy Oddenyo from the Wildlife Conservation Society.
"So China and Hong Kong are the major destinations for this specific kind of marine species, the sea cucumber. And there's a huge value that is pegged per kilo for these species. And more recently, we're seeing there are other international countries that are taking an interest in the same. So these factors could be driving the increase in the pressure because there's a huge demand."
As scavengers, sea cucumbers play a crucial role in marine ecosystems, and their depletion could impact fish stocks and coastal biodiversity.
What's more is that a 2022 study, from the Institute for Security Studies, linked sea cucumber smuggling to illegal trading in other endangered species.
But for many fishermen, sea cucumbers remain a life line leaving them tied to the industry.
