National Post (National Edition)
Giant red cucumber a prized seafood
There’s a new sustainable seafood option available in Canada — B.C’s giant red cucumber (Parastichopus californicus). This addition to the Vancouver Aquarium’s national Ocean Wise program is particularly timely with Lunar New Year celebrations in full swing from coast to coast.
“(It’s) a prized food in certain Asian cuisines and can be found in many Lunar New Year celebration dinners,” Alexis Brown of the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre said in an email. The unique, soft and gelatinous seafood has an al dente texture. In Chinese cookery, it’s typically sliced and served with vegetables or mushrooms, or braised whole.
There are approximately 30 different species of sea cucumbers in B.C., but the giant red sea cucumber is the only species that is fished commercially. It can grow to be as long as 50 centimetres, and is deep red in colour with yellow spikes. A fishery has been running since the 1970s, “with demand and market price increasing ever since,” the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre said in a statement. They are hand-caught by divers using a method that Ocean Wise has deemed highly sustainable.
“From coast to coast to coast, we have some amazing fisheries in this country that are harvesting their seafood sustainably. Our decision two years ago to focus on small-scale fisheries across Canada is a celebration of our local fisheries,” said Ann-Marie Copping, Ocean Wise program manager.
“The giant red sea cucumber fishery is a great example of a long-running fishery that uses a highly selective fishing method, ensuring the nearby environment remains intact and the population healthy for generations to come. With this new recommendation, our hope is that more restaurants — and in turn, more consumers — will seek out this unusual, sustainable seafood.”