Ranching sea cucumbers to repair the oceans — and improve human health

I study sea cucumbers, an economically important species in China that is valued for its nutritional and medicinal properties, and is important for the health of the ocean. It cleans the sea floor by feeding on detritus. Thanks to climate change and overfishing, sea-cucumber numbers are falling.

At the Engineering Laboratory for Marine Ranching (ELMR), we study the animals to maximize their contributions to marine ranching — a form of sustainable aquaculture that restocks valuable species, such as the sea cucumber and the Sebastes schlegelii rockfish. First we…