Introduction

Industry: Aquaculture Species: Holothuria Scabra, Sandfish (Common Name) Market: Far East, SE Asia & International

Pharmaceutical companies Why:

Large and healthy market Supply shortages due to over-exploitation of wild fisheries Proven farming techniques High value species

Natural distribution of H. scabra

Background

High value luxury seafood also known as beche-de-mer Medicinal and cultural importance Farming seen as the only way to supply the market AquaBlue Ventures (ABV) is a profit driven company with an environmentally friendly business

model and a strong social responsibility ethos. ABV is a GoGreen Credits Impact Fund portfolio company, and will be partner in conservation

projects under GoGreen Credits Marine Life & Coral Reef; Seas & Coral Reefs Fit for Life. AquaBlue Ventures will have a Hatchery, Grow-out ponds, Processing facility and Marketing

department. Hatchery juveniles will be sold to different farming locations . Marketable animals will be processed at ABV Processing facility under the ABV brand.

Executive Summary

SEA CUCUMBER Presentation for:

Wildlife Authority of KSA

March 2016

Sea Cucumber (Holothuria Scabra)

Sea cucumber (H.scabra) is an edible high value marine invertebrate Eaten in China and Pacific coastal communities Located in shallow water, soft sediments throughout the Indo-Pacific region Holothuria scabra was cultured for the first time in India (1988) Natural fisheries have declined due to over fishing around the world Sustainable ranching and aquaculture practices are the future for the species

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Echinodermata

Class: Holothuroidea

Order: Aspidochirotida

Family: Holothuriidae

Genus: Holothuria

Species: H. scabra

Binomial name

Holothuria scabraJaeger, 1833

ABV founders have 24 years combined Aquaculture experience (Sea Cucumbers, Abalone and Fish)

Business Management Financial Technical Biological and Scientific The founders have for the last three years

commercialized the biggest Scabra farm in the world Proven record of farming sea cucumbers successfully Dr. Georgina Robinson sits on the Board as a Non-executive

Director. Dr. Robinson is the foremost sea cucumber specialist in the world.

Management and Expertise

ABV plans is to operate a commercial Scabra hatchery in Thailand that produces 5-7 million juveniles per year. Hatchery setup cost of USD 1 million.

Juveniles will be stocked into disused shrimp ponds and approved ranching sites in Thailand with plans to expand into other parts of SE Asia.

Growth cycle is 9-15 months depending on the target harvest size of 300-500g

Estimated production yield per hectare: 6,000kg Drying yield: 8% First harvest of 290 tons in Year 2 with a total harvest of 1,480

tons in Year 5 Grow-Out area required: 240 Hectares, which can be split up in

several farms in different locations

AquaBlue Ventures Production Target

Sea Cucumber Prices (Historic Comparison)

Chinese economic slowdown and austerity measures caused

drop in prices.

Sheet1

Holothuria scabra Dry weight range Price US$ /kg (dried)

Pieces/kg Grade A Grade B Grade C

>48

Broodstock collection

Fertilisation & incubation of eggs

Spawning induction

Settlement of pentaculalarvae onto blue mesh

Transfer of doliolaria larvae to settlement tanks

Grow-out in lined ponds and sandy substrate ponds

Rearing of auricularia larvae

Harvest

Day 0

Pre-grow out in tray system/lined ponds

Day 1-9

Day 10

Day 11-14

Day 65

Day 42

Day 0

Day 365

Hold & condition in brood stock tanks/collection

from MFC

Microalgae cultured & fed to larvae

Culture of benthic diatoms & inoculation of settlement tanks

Condition tanks and feed with nursery

slurry mix and Chinese compound

diet

SIZE

80-200m

430 m 1.1mm

420-620m

30g to 500g

500g

0g to 0.2g

330-750 m

Hatchery (40 days)

Grow out(365 daysfor 500gr)

Collect and allow to purge

overnight before

processing

Intensive feeding at 5%

of total biomass

Sea Cucumber Farming Strategy

Sea Cucumber - Water Usage

Water from a source whichis either a sea or a lagoon ispumped from this source tosupply the Sea Cucumberhatchery. (min req. isapprox. 100m3 /hr)

FSI (Bag filter) and sandfilters remove solids andunwanted organisms fromwater prior to entering thehatchery.

Filtered water isboiled to kill microorganisms and isused in algaecultures which feedthe sea cucumbers.

Filtered sea water is used forall processes in the hatcherysuch as in the larval rearingtanks, spawning room andbrood-stock holding tanks.

Larval rearing tanks Larval settlement tanks Benthic Algae tanks

Master Algae cultures

Sea Cucumber - Brood-stock Management & Spawning Process

Brood-stock animals need conditioning over a 2 month before spawning and then need to be weighed individually to assess spawning/eggratioWhen Doliolaria phase is presentthey are moved into settlementtanks where they reach pentacularphase, settle on substrate and growuntil they reach individual weight of0.2g

Fertilized eggs are collected andstocked into hatch out tanks untilauricularia stage is present at whichtime they are harvested and moved tothe next tank

Spawning room has lightingcontrol to stimulate correcttime of day for spawningprocedure

Spawning tanks temperaturesare regulated by heaters tocreate optimal conditions

Animals are purged toreduce contaminationof eggs

Sea Cucumber - Pre Grow-out and Grow-out

0.2g animals are grown to 2g in a flow-through raceway system, harvested and transported to linedponds

At the end of the farming cycle ABVhas a top quality FARMED SEACUCUMBER (Holothuria Scabra) of 500g.

Harvest animals are collected bysnorkeling and caged over night toallow for purging of the gut prior toprocessing

Empty lined pond fillingwith water 3weeksprior to stocking

20g animals are harvestedand stocked into earthponds for the remainder ofgrow-outperiod 12months

Animals are stocked intolined ponds at averageindividual weight of 2g andgrown for 3months untilreaching a weight of 20g/ind

Lined pond ready forstocking after 3 weeksof conditioning

Sea Cucumber - Processing

Harvested animals aretransported dry toprocessing facility

Cooking pots can hold200kgs or more at a time.Cooking time = 1hr. Productis chilled, salted for 24hrs,glazed and then frozen

Gutted animals are placed in a slurry ice prior to cooking

They are weighed prior toand post gutting and aftercooking to calculate yields

Small incision is made andgut material is removed

Animals are placed on tableprior to gutting so that theanimal is in a relaxed state

Sea Cucumber Technology progress

The following technologies and concepts have been developed byleaders in sea cucumber aquaculture:

Hatcheries and spawning techniques Brood-stock induction to release eggs and sperm Egg fertilization and collection Hatch out and larval rearing

Pre-Grow Out Settlement of larvae on substrates Raceway juvenile Pre-Grow out

Grow Out Earthen ponds with flow through water exchange Ranching within inshore shallow waters

This technology now presents itself to be commercialized in afarming setup which focusses on intensive sea cucumber farming.

We now have the expertise to grow a purely farm based productthat does not require any disturbance of a wild fishery

Sea Cucumber Farming Conclusion

Hatchery results over the past years have improved which allows forbetter survivals during:

Spawning Larvae stages Settlement stage and PGO

Grow out: Extensive farming operations, such as ranching, success, varies

depending on the environments. Nutrient rich benthic sediments with high productivity allows

for ranching which saves on feeding artificial diets which areexpensive.

Ranching is conducted over vast areas with a lower stockingdensity / meter2

Pond culture: Lined ponds and earth ponds have been used successfully

to grow animals in a controlled manner and allows formore accurate stock assessments than ranching.

This strategy allows for higher stocking densities and morecontrol.

Sea Cucumber conclusion

Continued research into this sea cucumber species is valuable as wildstocks are over fished throughout the world

Research requires a lot of funding

Revenue generated through the legal sale of farmed Holothuria Scabrawill allow ABV to secure a niche in the market

Through the legal sale ABV will be highlighted as a success story for thisspecies

Illegal fishing will still need to governed as black market trade in SeaCucumbers is well known

More importantly the survival of the species is secured as there wouldbe no need for natural harvesting from the wild fishery to supportmarket and trade needs

Restocking of areas decimated by overfishing Re-use of abandoned land damaged by the farming of shrimp Use of alternative energy Education and training of Thai nationals Providing a stable income above the minimum wage rate Generous bonus scheme Providing an environmentally friendly alternative species to farm

AquaBlue Ventures Environmental & Social Targets

Slide Number 1Slide Number 2Slide Number 3Slide Number 4Slide Number 5Slide Number 6Slide Number 7Slide Number 8Slide Number 9Slide Number 10Slide Number 11Slide Number 12Slide Number 13Slide Number 14Slide Number 15Slide Number 16