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White Teatfish is a species of sea cucumber found in northern Australia. It is assessed as sustainable on QLD's east coast and in the Torres Strait Bêche-de-mer Fishery. Stocks in the NT and the Commonwealth Coral Sea Fishery are undefined.

White Teatfish is broadly distributed throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific [Conand 1990]. There are likely to be multiple populations in all northern Australian states and territories. However, there is very little information on the distribution, abundance and stock structure of White Teatfish in northern Australia. Current taxonomic records indicate that its distribution extends from Ningaloo in Western Australia to Brisbane, Queensland [ALA 2018]. The known depth range of this species is 0–40 m, but most animals are caught between 15 m and 30 m [Conand et al. 2013].

Here, assessment of stock status is reported at the management unit level—Torres Strait Beche-de-mer Fishery, Coral Sea Fishery (Commonwealth), Trepang Fishery (Northern Territory) and East Coast Sea Cucumber Fishery (Queensland).

East Coast Sea Cucumber Fishery

White Teatfish in Queensland is only harvested commercially. Nominal catch rates for White Teatfish have stabilised after a minor peak in 2010–11 and are now close to the average catch rate over the past 10 years [Roelofs et al. 2018]. Decreases in reported harvest over the past 15 years (from 131 t in 2003–04 to 53 t in 2019–20) are due to reductions in the quota for White Teatfish and do not reflect biomass declines. This inference is supported by a 2021 stock assessment which estimated the White Teatfish stock to be around 80% of the unfished biomass (1995) (Helidoniotis 2021). The above evidence indicates the biomass of this management unit is unlikely to be depleted and that recruitment is unlikely to be impaired.

Longer-term management of White Teatfish is guided by the Queensland Sea Cucumber Fishery Harvest Strategy 2021–2026 t [Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries 2021]. Current harvest levels do not exceed the primary harvest strategy goal of maintaining the stocks at a target biomass reference point of 60%. The species is also managed under a rotational zoning scheme (RZS) with fishing pressure further constrained under a Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) limit. Catches have been at or just below the 53 t TACC since its introduction in 2011–12. Management strategy evaluation (MSE) of the RZS determined that the risk of the fishery depleting White Teatfish biomass to below 40% of unfished biomass was very low under Queensland Sea Cucumber (East Coast) Fishery management arrangements [Skewes et al. 2014]. Spatial closures in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protect an estimated 30% of the White Teatfish spawning biomass and commercial catch quotas are in place to restrict catches to sustainable levels. Recreational harvest of White Teatfish is not allowed in Queensland waters. The above evidence indicates the current level of fishing mortality is unlikely to cause the stock to become recruitment impaired.

On the basis of the evidence provided above, the East Coast Sea Cucumber Fishery (Queensland) management unit is classified as a sustainable stock.

White Teatfish (Sea Cucumber) biology [Purcell et al. 2012]

Distribution of reported commercial catch of White Teatfish. Due to confidentiality constraints, catches from the Northern Territory are not shown.

Northern Territory – Indigenous (Management methods). The Fisheries Act 1988 (NT), specifies that “…without derogating from any other law in force in the Territory, nothing in a provision of this Act or an instrument of a judicial or administrative character made under it limits the right of Aboriginals who have traditionally used the resources of an area of land or water in a traditional manner from continuing to use those resources in that area in that manner”.

Queensland – Indigenous (Management Methods). For more information see: https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/traditional-fishing.

Queensland - Commercial (Catch). Queensland commercial and charter data have been sourced from the commercial fisheries logbook program. Further information available through the Queensland Fisheries Summary Report https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/monitoring-research/data/queensland-fisheries-summary-report 

Queensland – Commercial (Management Methods). Harvest strategies are available at: https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/sustainable/harvest-strategy  

Commonwealth – Recreational. The Australian Government does not manage recreational fishing in Commonwealth waters. Recreational fishing in Commonwealth waters is managed by the state or territory immediately adjacent to those waters, under its management regulations.

Commonwealth – Commercial (Catch). Catch is by calendar year. All catch is Indigenous in Torres Strait.

1. Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) 2018, Holothuria (Microthele) fuscogilva Cherbonnier, 1980.
2. Butler, I, D'Alberto, B and Tuynman, H 2022, Torres Strait Bêche-de-mer and Trochus fisheries, in Patterson, H, Bromhead, D, Galeano, D, Larcombe, J, Timmiss, T, Woodhams, J and Curtotti, R (eds), Fishery status reports 2022, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.
3. Conand, C 1990, The fishery resources of Pacific island countries. Part 2. Holothurians, FAO, Rome.
4. Conand, C, Purcell, S and Gamboa, R 2013, Holothuria fuscogilva. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T200715A2681354. Downloaded on 27 July 2018.
5. Helidoniotis, F 2021, Stock assessment of white teatfish (Holothuria fuscogilva) in Queensland Australia. Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland Government. Brisbane, Queensland.
6. Murphy, NE, Plagányi, EE, Edgar, S, Salee, K and Skewes, TD 2020, Stock survey of sea cucumbers in East Torres Strait. Draft final report. December 2020. CSIRO, Australia. 120 pp.
7. Noriega, R, Keller, K, Butler, I and Curtotti, R 2022, Coral Sea Fishery, in Patterson, H, Bromhead, D, Galeano, D, Larcombe, J, Timmiss, T, Woodhams, J and Curtotti, R (eds), Fishery status reports 2022, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.
8. Purcell, S, Samyn, Y and Conand, C 2012, Commercially important sea cucumbers of the world, FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 6, Rome, 150 pp.
9. Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries 2021, Sea Cucumber Fishery Harvest Strategy: 2021–2026.
10. Roelofs, A, Woodhams, J and Grubert, M 2018, White Teatfish (Sea cucumber) Holothuria fuscgilva, in Stewardson, C, Andrews, J, Ashby, C, Haddon, M, Hartmann, K, |Hone, P, Horvat, P, Mayfield, S, Roelofs, A, Sainsbury, K, Saunders, T, Stewart, J, Nicol, S and Wise, B (eds) 2018, Status of Australian fish stocks reports 2018, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, Canberra.
11. Skewes, T, Dennis, DM, Koutsoukos, A, Haywood, M, Wassenberg, T and Austin, M 2004, Stock survey and sustainable harvest strategies for Torres Strait bêche-de-mer, AFMA project R01/1345, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Cleveland, Queensland.
12. Skewes, T, Plaganyi, E, Murphy, N, Pascual, R and Fischer, M 2014, Evaluating rotational harvest strategies for sea cucumber fisheries, CSIRO, Brisbane.