Henk Stander was recently invited to join the Worldwide Sustainable Sea Cucumber Association. This association was registered in Seatle, USA as a legal entity in 2024. Henk’s role will be the Senior Scientific Advisor and Operations Manager for the African continent. He agreed to join the association and took part in the first exhibition of the association at the World Aquaculture Society’s Aquaculture Conference in Singapore from 2 to 5 June 2026.

The Worldwide Sustainable Sea Cucumber Association (SSC) is an international collaboration platform established to promote sustainable management, aquaculture development, and international trade of high-value marine resources, particularly sea cucumbers, in line with scientific research, environmental sustainability, and feasible economic principles.

The Association operates with the objectives of conserving natural stocks, preventing illegal and unsustainable harvesting, and enhancing transparency within the sector.

The mission of SSC is to:

• Promote sustainable aquaculture systems (particularly Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture – IMTA/SIMTA),
• Develop and transfer scientific production technologies for sea cucumbers and related species,
• Facilitate the exchange of international knowledge, technology, and best practices among member countries,
• Support capacity building, education, and technical assistance in developing countries,
• Strengthen quality, traceability, and standardization across the sector.

Vision:

The vision of SSC is to become a globally recognized and leading reference organization that creates economic value through sustainable production models while prioritizing the conservation of marine biological resources.

In this context, SSC aims to act as a bridge between public institutions, academia, and the private sector, and to develop innovative projects that jointly support environmental sustainability and feasible economic development.

Main fields of International Collaboration:

• Sustainable sea cucumber aquaculture development and R & D activities
• Development and implementation of international projects
• Training, consultancy, and technical capacity-building programs
• Providing scientific input to policy-making processes
• Sectoral data collection, analysis, and reporting