Sea cucumbers are marine animals related to starfish and are most commonly traded in dried form.
They range in size from a few centimetres to two metres. Most of the sea cucumbers harvested from the Galapagos Islands are shipped to Asia markets, mainly to Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, where it is considered as delicacy, tonic food and also used in medicines. Following a four-year ban, an experimental sea cucumber fishery was allowed in April and May 1999 in the Galapagos Islands. In that time, over 4.4 million sea cucumbers were harvested and 122 tonnes were legally shipped from the Islands to mainland Ecuador. The study confirmed that the harvesting of sea cucumbers during that two-month fishing season proved to be lucrative.