Temperate fiheries are divided into the Western Pacifi, Eastern Pacifi, and North Atlantic regions.
The Western Pacifi region, where A. japonicus is the main commercial species, centers on the
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fiheries. A. japonicus has been bred artifiially, and there are many
large-scale aquaculture facilities in all three countries (especially in China). This region also covers the
Russian fihery, but very limited information about Russian sea cucumber resources and exportations are
available. There is also a growing New Zealand fihery focused on Stichopus mollis, which is presently an
“exploratory fihery” under New Zealand’s quota management system