New Zealand's sea cucumbers could make a lucrative trade on the international food market, new research shows.
Researcher Leo Zamora has been studying sea cucumbers for the past five years as part part of his PHD in Marine Science at Auckland University.
"They are the Houdinis of the marine world. They can escape through just about anything, so sea ranching in cages is not that easy. Also the larvae flows into the water column and away, so to keep a population in one place you have to have successful hatchery techniques," he said.
Through his research, Mr Zamora has unveiled new information about sea cucumbers - highly sought after around the world - and identified one species in New Zealand which could be suitable for farming.
"My cooking skills are not the best so I just boiled one up, it was pretty flavourless and the texture was unusual. But in Chinese cooking they are used dried and added to all kinds of dishes and they are supposed to just melt in your mouth. They are a delicacy in China and often served on special occasions like weddings."
