Sea cucumbers are harvested commercially by divers who remove the animals from the substrate by hand. Marketable products include frozen muscle strips and dried skins.
Skins are semidried in B.C. and the U.S. prior to export to Asia.
Licences are limited and currently 85 licences are eligible for participation in the fishery. Under the current management regime, the fishery generally lasts three weeks and most often occurs during October when product quality is higher and weather conditions are still conducive to fish. Individual quotas allow fishermen to select optimum times in which to harvest without fear of competition from other licence holders. While some areas may be more desirable to fish in and those quotas harvested early, openings in most areas span the entire three week period. The commercial fishery ranks sixth in value among Pacific Region commercial shellfish fisheries.