Assessing the Feasibility of a Sea Cucumber Fishery in Nunavut

Sea cucumber is part of the Inuit traditional diet in certain regions of the Canadian Arctic. Both sea cucumber and
closely related sea urchins are among the favourite foods in the Arctic. Currently, there is currently no commercial
fishery for sea cucumber or sea urchin anywhere in the Arctic, whereas harvests from the North Atlantic are
primarily exported to Asia as luxury seafood. The proposed project builds on the extensive experience of the
Mercier Lab on echinoderms, particularly sea cucumbers and on recent interest expressed by Indigenous Nunavut
communities to assess the value of their echinoderm resources (sea cucumbers and sea urchins).

Faculty Supervisor:

Annie Mercier

Student:

Partner:

World Wildlife Fund Canada (Toronto, ON);World Wildlife Fund (St. John's, NL)

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture; Other services (except public administration)

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program: