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Sea cucumbers are considered a traditional food delicacy in Asian countries. In last decades high market demand, uncontrolled exploitation and inadequate management have led to stock overexploitation, driving commercial interest in new target species and new areas. In recent years, Mediterranean and North-East Atlantic sea cucumbers have become fishing targets, and, due to overfishing, a significant decline of wild populations have been observed, with detrimental effects on benthic communities and ecosystems. Indeed, in addition to being an important economic resource, sea cucumbers play a key ecological role in benthic dynamics where they are involved as ecosystem engineers in the processing of organic matter in the detrital food web pathway. In this context, aquaculture can play a crucial role in supporting the conservation of natural stocks by reducing harvesting pressure on wild populations and enabling restoration programmes for depleted stocks. Commercial sea cucumber farming is already an established reality in the Indo-Pacific region, where it has become one of the most profitable sectors of aquaculture production. In Europe, on the other hand, sea cucumber aquaculture is still an emerging sector, whose development is hampered by poor and fragmented information on the farming requirements of native species. In this context, this systematic review was carried out with the aim of providing a comprehensive summary of the state of the art of farming practices of the European sea cucumbers considered as a target of commercial fisheries. A total of 34 original articles were included in this review, after title, abstract and full-text screening. The results highlighted a sharp increase in the number of studies over the last six years. Portugal, Turkey and Italy are the countries where most research has been carried out. Among the selected species, Holothuria tubulosa was the most studied, while only one article was found on Parastichopus regalis. The main aims of this review were i) to gather all available literature on the farming practices of North-East Atlantic and Mediterranean sea cucumber species, ii) to outline the most common farming practices, iii) to identify gaps and future directions in this emerging aquaculture sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript explores the role of European anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) in the central Mediterranean Region, shedding light on their ecological significance, conservation challenges, and sustainable utilization. The European anchovy is one of Europe's most important fish resources in the Mediterranean basin, and it is considered a keystone species, playing a pivotal role in both ecological and socio-economic dimensions. However, in recent decades, European anchovy, together with Sardina pilchardus (commonly known as European sardine), has suffered a population decline for several reasons. Consequently, it is necessary to improve the management of anchovy fisheries by understanding the reproductive modes and characteristics, the influence of currents on the passive transport of eggs and larvae, the feeding habits, the environmental adaptability (e.g., salinity), and the distribution of ecotypes along the Italian coasts. Such information is fundamental for the management of fisheries, especially artisanal ones, and to control frauds, especially in protected, geographically referred, and traditional high-quality commercial products. Various aspects, ranging from their population dynamics to their industrial processing and the ecological implications of these activities were delved, highlighting the knowledge about anchovy populations and ecotypes and its importance in maintaining ecosystem balance and sustaining human communities. The ecological interaction of anchovies within the food web, as essential data in the conservation actions and management of these resources was emphasized. In addition, the metabolic and stomach contents diversity among anchovy populations and ecotypes was discussed, enhancing our understanding of their adaptability to varying environmental conditions. The manuscript then explores the traditional and industrial processing of anchovies, encompassing aspects ranging from fishing techniques (i.e., methods of capture) to their industrial significance, sustainability concerns, issues of fraud, and the establishment of geographical traceability. Finally, the opportunities for sustainable and biotechnological utilization of anchovy discards were also further explored, demonstrating the potential for waste reduction and resource optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holothuria tubulosa (Gmelin, 1788) has recently shown an increased demand in Asian markets, becoming one of the intensively exploited holothurian species in the Mediterranean Sea. A risk is that over-harvesting is likely affecting both the species' natural stocks and the benthic communities. In this scenario, sea ranching and restocking through aquaculture could assist in mitigating its overexploitation. This study is the first to demonstrate the successful artificial breeding and rearing of H. tubulosa, and its consequent potential as a new species for the Mediterranean aquaculture industry. Here we describe the spawning induction, larval development and early juvenile growth in hatchery cultures, aimed at developing a spawning and rearing protocol for this species. The trials were conducted from July to October in both 2014 and 2015. Holothuria tubulosa was induced to spawn by testing four different methods. Thermal stimulation plus thermal shock emerged as the most efficient method to obtain active and healthy gametes. Larval development in H. tubulosa progressed through five stages, reaching the juvenile stage in 27 days. Two different microalgal feeding regimens were tested for larval breeding. Under the best feeding conditions, 7% of the larvae metamorphosed into settled juveniles, adhering to artificial substrates previously conditioned with benthic biofilm. Our results indicate that H. tubulosa shows good performance in hatchery rearing during the larval phases, indicating that this species could be a new candidate for aquaculture in the Mediterranean region, both for production and restocking proposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]