Using Collaborative Research to Better Manage the Nova Scotian Sea Cucumber Resource

Though administrative policies can promote cooperative research, a lack of policy or monitoring is commonly the impetus for scientist-stakeholder collaboration. We highlight this through an emerging, collaborative approach to better manage the Nova Scotian Sea Cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) fishery. Sea cumbers are benthic, echinoderms with a global history of over exploitation due to slow population growth, dense, predictable aggregations, and high value. Despite this history, the growing Nova Scotian sea cucumber fishery is managed through catch per unit effort trends. However, area specific licenses give companies the opportunity to better manage their portion of the resource. One company, Ocean Pride-Leader Fisheries, sought fisheries-independent, spatially explicit distribution and abundance estimates. To achieve this, the company funded a proof of concept project that adapted a drop camera survey method used to monitor Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) populations since 1999. The system was successfully scaled down resulting in the collection of data that could meet the company’s objectives. With this success, a three year research plan, which includes additional collaboration with a local university, has been established to not only continue the production of fine-scale distribution and abundance information, but to also examine habitat and inter-species relationships.