Production of sea cucumber increases in Pinar del Río

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 2 (ACN) With a high nutritional value and acceptance in the foreign market, sea cucumber is one of the exportable lines of the Empresa Pesquera Industrial La Coloma (Epicol) of Pinar del Río, for greater income to the national economy.

Along with the lobster and sea snail assortments, this species of mollusk is one of the productions in the prestigious entity, from the call of the maximum direction of the country to exploit the potentialities of each site.

Through the Cuban exporting company Caribex, the sea cucumber will reach Asian clients for the third year, especially Chinese, who recognize its high content of proteins, minerals and polysaccharides.

For this year they plan to capture 12 tons of a product located in the sandy bottoms and that requires diving fishing to access their populations, according to Nibaldo Fabé Gutiérrez, director of supervision and control of the entity.

Two boats are dedicated to the work and although the contributions are not very significant, they contribute to the national economy.

Yordan Nogueira Tapia, director of technology and quality, said that the sales plan to the sell some 18,110 pesos.

This would complete the 22.9 million estimated for the year among the three exportable products, with a greater weight for lobster.

Rodaimy Pérez Pastrana, biologist and representative of the Epicol capture bureau, explained that cucumber is fished in two places, in Puerto Esperanza and Arroyos de Mantua; although in the first case a temporary ban is proposed due to the little presence of the species on the platform.

He added that the minimum size for catches is 18 centimeters taking into account the need for reproduction of the youngest.

The Isostichopus badionotus and the Mexican cucumber are the species fished in Pinar del Río, said Pérez Pastrana.

It is a mollusk that decomposes very easily, as a defense mechanism, hence the rigorous process since its capture, which requires a small cut in its center, extraction of sand and gonads, cooking, drying and freezing in the industry.

Empresa Pesquera Industrial La Coloma provides 40 percent of the lobster caught in Cuba and more than 65 percent of the tuna.