Priscilla C Martínez’s research while affiliated with Charles Darwin University and other places

Over the last decade, the sea cucumber Isostichopus fuscus has been the target of a continuous fishery in the Galapagos Islands. The increasing growth of this activity and its potential impacts prompted the Park Authorities to initiate a participatory management program to assess the status of the resource. From 1999 until 2003, density surveys of I. fuscus have been conducted before and after each fishing season by teams of fishers, naturalist guides, managers and scientists. Using a 100 m 2 sweep circular transect an average of 900 m 2 have been surveyed in specific sites of Fernandina, Isabela, Española, Floreana, Santa Cruz and San Cristóbal. A drastic decrease of density and size structure of Isostichopus fuscus has been observed after each fishing season, with population densities partly recovered between fishing periods. In Isabela and Fernandina, a single recruitment event was recorded in April 2000, which reached its peak in March/April 2001, which probably helped the ongoing fishery on those islands. No recruitment has been detected on any other island. Nonetheless, current adult and juvenile densities show that I. fuscus populations in the Galapagos Islands are severely depleted and unless there is another recruitment pulse, along with a complete ban on fishing activities these populations are in serious risk.