2 x Stichopus sp. In the early stages of this research, a limited number of sources have been identified for the collation of fishery statistics. These are presented below. This unfortunately provides us with a confusing scenario, whereby the tonnage of dried sea cucumber has been presented in combination with salted sea cucumber and sea cucumber in brine. It also at present makes it very difficult to compare these statistics with other existing estimates.
More detailed information exists for the state of Sabah, Malaysia.
Local sea cucumber production at the time was erratic, and fluctuated according to overseas market demands. The Fisheries Department has further indicated that there are six companies involved in the export of sea cucumbers from Sabah, the overseas market including Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and others. In addition, Sabah also supplies Sarawak and Semenanjung Malaysia. Local traders explain the reduction in imports to Sabah as a result of neighbouring countries developing and improving transportation and communication networks, enabling them to directly export to other countries rather than through Sabah. The FAO have also supplied figures for the catch of sea cucumbers in Malaysia, which are given in Table 4.