A Study on Polyculture of Oyster (Crassostrea gigas), Sea Squirt (Halocynthia roretzi) and Sea Cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) Under a Hanging Culture System

This study aimed to develop a novel polyculture technology for sea cucumber using seabed under hanging culture farms of oyster and sea squirt. The survival, growth and sheltering rates of sea cucumber seedlings were determined. The habitation rate of sea cucumber was 20% with 20.8 - 31.0 animals per shelter. The density was calculated to be 3 animals per m(2) (m(2) x 3 x 900 = 2,700 animals), which shows that approximate 2,000 kg of sea cucumbers could be produced from 1 ha (10,000 m(2) x 200 g; when one individual grows every m(2)). Even though seabed under the hanging culture farms is muddy and not suitable for rearing sea cucumbers, the results of this study showed that polyculture of sea cucumber is possible using the oyster and sea squirt hanging culture farms. Therefore, the method of utilizing the bottom surface in a hairstyling farm is proposed as a new aquaculture model for sea cucumber farming. The results of this study could contribute to improve the culturing environment of sea cucumbers and could help to increase production and capital generation from the aquaculture farms.