Sea cucumbers in the Galapagos are being fished out illegally in spite of a four-year ban that is unsuccessfully enforced by the Ecuadorian government. Most sea cucumbers are dried and exported to Taiwan and Hong Kong. The waters off of mainland Ecuador have already been stripped of commercially valuable sea cucumbers. The controversy in the Galapagos involves the inability to sustain sea cucumber harvesting, and that the removal of millions of sea cucumbers will have detrimental effects on the food chain in the waters of the Galapagos. (Sullivan, 1999) Aside from the ecological damage, it is feared that these fishermen will go after other, rarer species when the sea cucumbers are depleted. (Stutz, 1995) It has been proposed to raise sea cucumber in captivity, but difficulties exist, such as locating the sexually mature sea cucumbers, the timing of mating the animals, providing the necessary food for the larvae, and then releasing the sea cucumbers at the right time. (Coh!
             The sea cucumber, or Cucumaria frondosa, make up the class Holothuroidae, of the phylum Echinodermata. The sea cucumber is related to the starfish, and can be described as big slug-like blobs. Sea cucumbers have a rubbery-like, warty body and their length can range from 0.8 inches to 6.5 feet. They have tube-like feet that project from underneath them and give them the sluggish caterpillar-like contractions as they move. Sea cucumbers breathe through branched respiratory tubes, or trees that go from the cloaca to the body cavity. The cloaca contract, forcing water into the respiratory. The water is emptied into the body cavity and mixes with body fluids and supplies the sea cucumber with oxygen. (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000)
             Sea cucumbers have a very important role in nature and maintaining the ecological balance in the sea. They prey on a variety of small organisms, which aids in controlling the population of these organisms. Decaying matte...