HIGH temperatures have caused the deaths of sea cucumbers in a large area in Northeast China’s Liaoning Province this summer, China Central Television reported.

Sea cucumbers will die and decompose if the water temperature rises above 30 degree Celsius, said Yu Chang, a farmer who has been raising sea cucumbers for more than 10 years.

The water temperature was about 25 to 26 degree Celsius in past years, but this year, the temperature reached 35 to 36 degree Celsius around 2 p.m. in recent days, Yu said.

The high temperatures wiped out sea cucumbers in 90 percent of his pools with a total area of 1,000 mu (666.7 hectares), Yu said. The pools had an annual output of about 25 tons of sea cucumbers in past years.

Based on the current prices of sea cucumbers sold in the market, the loss will reach about 10 million yuan (US$1.46 million) this year, Yu said.

In Dalian alone, farmers will suffer about 6.8 billion yuan in losses.

According to local fisheries departments, sea cucumbers began to die across the province from July 28, and the animals first to go were in pools with a depth of less than 7 meters.

Now many farmers have hired divers to fish out sea cucumbers, hoping to reduce the losses. Some divers said that lots of dead sea cucumbers have become like glue in the water.

However, Yu said the sea cucumbers will not be sold in the market as they do not meet the standard, and will be eaten by the farmers themselves or given to their friends. 

(China Daily)