The Americas only sea cucumber farm: Welcome to PanaSea
During my latest visit to Panama, I had the opportunity to explore PanaSea, the first and only sea cucumber farm in the Americas. At PanaSea, the team is dedicated to restoring depleted sea cucumber populations while providing economic stability to the local community, which plays a crucial role in this innovative project.
Let’s dive in and learn more about Pana Sea and why restoring sea cucumber populations is so important.
Why Sea Cucumbers?
Sea cucumbers have been a dietary delicacy and medicinal staple in many Asian cultures for over 500 years. They offer an impressive array of health benefits—they’re high in protein, low in fat, and rich in essential nutrients like vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, magnesium, calcium, zinc, and iron.
Research suggests that sea cucumbers can be effective in treating conditions such as arthritis, hypertension, joint pain, high cholesterol, and even erectile dysfunction.
However, due to their cultural and nutritional significance, demand for sea cucumbers has skyrocketed, leading to severe overfishing of wild populations across the globe. As a result, many countries have banned the collection and export of sea cucumbers.
Despite these restrictions, the demand for sea cucumbers remains strong, making aquaculture—or farming sea cucumbers—a crucial solution to meet global demand without further depleting wild populations.
As demand increases and wild stocks diminish, prices continue to rise, making the transition to aquaculture farming of sea cucumbers not just beneficial, but inevitable. Sea ranching—using coastal ocean areas to grow lab-produced juveniles into market-ready adults—enables widespread cultivation along coastlines, minimizing crop threats like disease, maximizing environmental benefits, and creating diverse job opportunities for coastal communities.
By 2024, the demand for sea cucumbers is expected to exceed supply by 1.7 times, resulting in a 340-million-kilogram shortage.
How to Farm Sea Cucumbers
Pana Sea is the first and only sea cucumber hatchery in the Americas. They raise sea cucumbers in a hatchery until they reach approximately 2 cm in size, after which they are transferred to the ocean for further growth until harvest—a process known as sea ranching. The entire growth cycle takes about 16 to 18 months.
Farming Phases:
Spawning & Larvae Rearing: Collecting sperm and eggs from wild sea cucumbers and raising them in the hatchery.
Happa Net Growth Cycle: Nurturing the juveniles until they are ready for transfer to the seabed.
Seabed Grow-Out & Processing: Allowing the sea cucumbers to mature on the seabed before processing.
Once fully grown, the sea cucumbers are processed, dried, and sold as a commodity, primarily to wholesale buyers in China, for $150/kg. Panama’s bilateral trade agreement with China further supports this market.
Ecosystem Benefits of Farming Sea Cucumbers
Sea cucumbers, often referred to as the “earthworms of the sea,” are essential nutrient recyclers. They release calcium carbonate into the water, which is vital for coral growth, and they help increase the water's pH, counteracting ocean acidification.
Sea ranching allows for the cultivation of sea cucumbers as a valuable food product while simultaneously improving the marine habitat. Sea cucumbers clean the sea floor of surplus organic detritus, prevent and consume unhealthy algae blooms, distribute ammonia to fertilize other sea life, and provide essential calcium for coral. This makes them key players in combating the acidifying effects of climate change.
Social and Economic Sustainability
Sea cucumber cultivation offers a unique opportunity for Caribbean coastal fishing communities to transition sustainably out of poverty. The work builds upon the fishers’ existing knowledge, producing a high-value product while simultaneously restoring the marine ecosystem.
Pana Sea represents a pioneering effort in sustainable aquaculture, combining economic, environmental, and social benefits. As sea cucumber demand continues to rise, farms like Pana Sea are critical in ensuring the future availability of this important resource.
Check out these videos to learn more about Pana Sea and sea cucumber farming:
