To support livelihoods of communities and assist in the replenishment of sea cucumber stocks in the region, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), with funding assistance from the Australian Centre for Interna­ tional Agriculture Research (ACIAR)/ DFAT Australia, has conducted two workshops on sea cucumber (sandfish) breeding and live microalgae culture techniques. The participants were fisheries officers and people working in the private sector in Pacific Island countries that have a sea cucumber restocking and farming programme.

The first workshop was conducted in Kiribati with the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Development in January 2015 as part of an ACIAR project on community-based aquaculture, which, for Kiribati, focuses on the culture of sandfish (Holothuria scabra). A total of 14 staff from the Tanaea hatchery, including fisheries assistant trainees, were trained in all aspects of hatchery techniques for breeding sea cucumber and microalgae culture. The second workshop, conducted from 27 April to 23 May 2015 in Fiji at the government’s fisheries station in Galoa, was attended by 12 participants from Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Cook Islands.