Sea Cucumber Stock Assessment in the Seychelles

The objectives of this consultancy were to assess stock status for the main commercial species of sea cucumber in order to identify sustainable management objectives, procedures and management measures. Specifically:

a)            Assess SFA sea cucumber fishery database, provide data summaries and diagnostic information, and prepare data for stock assessment

b)            Conduct spatial analyses of available VMS data and area-stratified effort and catch data from logbooks to determine reliability of declarations for spatially-disaggregated models

c)             Use appropriate models to conduct standardisation of the catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) data series for core fishing areas on the banks and plateaux as an input to the assessment model

d)            Select and apply appropriate spatially structured production model(s) to determine current status of the stocks relative to biological reference points

e)            Conduct projections of stock status under scenarios of increasing catch or effort for facilitating management planning

f)             Based on results, provide options for management objectives for the fishery which incorporate stock indicators and biological reference points