As we wrote in the last newsletter, PhD student Alison Hammond from the University of the Sunshine Coast is currently undertaking a research project on the sea cucumber (bêche-de-mer) fishery in Hervey Bay, the Great Sandy Strait and Tin Can Bay in the 1980s and 1990s. Project results will be used to map the historical and current distribution of sea cucumbers. 

In late 2025, the project received Human Research Ethics approvals. So, Alison has been able to interview some local retired commercial fishers and long-term residents/naturalists about the history of the sea cucumber/beche-de-mer industry in Great Sandy.

“A million thanks to those who have generously given their time for an interview. These insights are absolutely invaluable to reconstructing some semblance of a pre-fishing baseline, especially in the absence of any catch monitoring prior to 1995,” said Alison.

Permits are now in place for the in-water survey and eDNA component, so the team can begin searching in earnest for sandfish in the Great Sandy Marine Park. In-water surveys in Moreton Bay Marine Park are planned for February to assess the current status of sandfish stocks there for comparison with the 2018 and 2001 surveys. 

Finally, Alison was excited to announce that they recently found a small, lone sandfish at Tinnanbar.

“Not quite the hundreds of thousands that once roamed the seagrass beds, but at least one is a start! The finder called me, and I was able to race down and grab a skin sample from it for genetic testing.

Alison is specifically seeking sightings of the sandfish Holothuria scabra (see photo) anywhere within the Great Sandy Marine Park. If anyone finds one, it would be great if they could take a photo and, if possible, a GPS location (or a screenshot of their location on Google Maps would be good), and text it to Alison on 0419 740 994 or email alison.hammond@research.usc.edu.au.

Article contributed by Alison Hammond, University of the Sunshine Coast