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Editorial

Welcome to the 26th issue of the SPC Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin, which begins with a pilot study conducted in Samoa by Eriksson et al. on the regeneration of Stichopus horrens, a species whose viscera are locally consumed. The authors suggest that such research will help to understand S. horrens organ regeneration in the field and prove valuable for future management of this fishery. An article by Leeworthy and Skewes details a new method for conducting underwater visual censuses, referred to as the hip-chain transect. A recent survey by Mulochau et al. shows that some remote reefs of the Indian Ocean near Mayotte have very poor holothurian fauna, which could be a sign of overexploitation. Ahmed and Lawrence relate how four years after a ban on the sea cucumber fishery in Egypt, some commercial species are showing signs of returning, although there is no evidence of stock recovery. The Seychelles’ sea cucumber fishery is expanding rapidly and requires management. Aumeeruddy and Conand present new data on the dried products of five marketed species. The authors hope that this information will be useful for describing species characteristics and for establishing market grades. Leeworthy contributes another article, this one on the application of the Two-Term Local Quadrat Variance Analysis, with data obtained by using conventional underwater visual census of Actinopyga echinites. Hirimuthugoda et al. pursue their research on probiotic yeasts with phytase activity, identified from the gastrointestinal tract of sea cucumbers.

We continue to publish observations on sea cucumber natural spawnings, fission and recruitment, so don’t hesitate to submit your field or laboratory observations. In this issue, F.A. Abdel Razek et al. describe a new case of induced fission in Holothuria arenicola.

Please note that instructions have been prepared to assist authors and editors in writing and submitting papers for this publication. They are available at: http://www.spc.int/coastfish/news/SIG-instructions.pdf As usual, this and all previous issues of the bulletin are available in PDF format on SPC’s website at: http://www.spc.int/coastfish/News/BDM/ bdm.htm

I would like to remind readers that all articles and abstracts published in the bulletin can be found in a database that has been developed by SPC’s Fisheries Information Section. This database includes more than 600 article and abstract titles that can be searched by title, author name(s), scientific name, region or country. Each search result is presented with a hyperlink that allows downloading in PDF format. The database is available on SPC’s website at: http://www.spc.int/coastfish/news/search_bdm.asp.

Finally, I’d like to draw your attention to a joint project between different partners of the Aspidochirote Working Group. You will find more information on this project at: http://www.uog.edu/marinelab/peetcukes/index.html

Chantal Conand  

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