More than 20 sacks of illegally gathered dried sea cucumbers have been confiscated by the fisheries authorities in Samoa before they were exported to Hong Kong.
An Asian business man is being questioned by the authorities and charges will be laid after an ongoing investigation by the police and the Division of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture.
A senior fishery officer says the government has reaffirmed the ban on exporting sea cucumbers imposed in 2007 because of concerns about over fishing.
The fishery division alleges the Asian businessman had
successfully contacted several villages for the purchase of sea cucumbers before the shipment was discovered
