For the very first time in my life I learned about the existence of trepangs while reading Jules Verne's novel "Captain Nemo: 20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", where Nemo was treating his prisoners led by Professor Pierre Aronax, serving them seafood including "bech-de-mer", which is the sea cucumber in French. It had happened in my youth at the age of 16 and this object would not have been stayed in my mind for a long time if 5-6 years later, after graduating from college and receiving diplomas of ichthyologist and aquaculture engineer in 1976, I did not find myself in the Far East of Russia at the coast of the Posiet Bay of the Sea of Japan. It is here, in the rich fauna of coastal benthos, among a variety of fish, crabs, mussels, oysters, scallops, sea stars, sea urchins, sea anemones and ascidians, that the sea cucumber turned out to be the most mysterious and exotic object of macrobenthos. It does not possess much of attraction in it's appearance, yet the sea cucumbers were present here everywhere. Back then there were no much of demand of it by locals as a fishing object, but rumors and publications about "trepang", as it called here, were quite intriguing. Here, next to the bay, there were the ancient, mysterious, great, totally closed for us, Chinese state whose aura kept us intrigued. It was there where this obscure living creature was worshiped and it kept our young, curious, ready for discoveries minds in flurry.
In Russia, the sea cucumber is called trepang. This name took root from the Malaysian and Indonesian languages, where trepang (trepang or teripang) was a boiled salted-dried product obtained from sea cucumbers harvested in Indo-Pacific. Trepanging meant both the catching of the trepang itself and the process of cooking and drying it, as well as it's sales to China and Singapore. In the Middle Ages, this product was actively used as a replacement for silver currency for trade with China (...). In Russia, the trepang lives mainly in the south of the Primorsky Territory (map from Levin .. or Lebedev ..), as well as in the south of Sakhalin Island and the southern Kuril Islands. It is represented here by the only species Apostihopus japonicus Selenka, which also lives off the coast of Japan, off the Korean Peninsula and off the coast of northeastern China. This species has a long history of being eaten by the Chinese elite, who regard it as a delicacy and also believe in the high healing and rejuvenating qualities of this product. It is likely that the trepang was also on the menu of the great thinker Confucius 2500 years ago, for the soup called "Eight immortal daredevils who crossed the stormy night sea together with the monk Arhat" is still known in this country. This soup contains eight expensive ingredients including bird nests, shark fins, trepang and other ingredients boiled in chicken broth. According to legend, it is the Confucius chef who is the author of this recipe (https://www.pressreader.com/china/beijing-english/20180705/281556586578464 ...). (https://www.pressreader.com/china/beijing-english/20180705/281556586578464 ...). "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" prepared from delicacies from both land and sea, is considered as a first course at birthday banquets and a main dish of Confucian cusine " .
One way or another, in the modern world of open trade, the new elite of the phenomenally developing Celestial Empire is buying up many species of holothurians, usually called sea cucumbers (trepangs), all over the world, but it is Apostichopus japonicus Selenka that has here the highest demand and the price. At the same time, the highest quality and the most expensive product of this species is the stichopus caught in the Japanese Mutsu Bay in Aomori prefecture. It is believed that it is in this region that it has the best taste and appearance due to a long history and tradition in its craft and quality processing. In Japan the trepang boom began during the unification of the inimical shogunates and the heyday of the "Land of the Rising Sun" during the Edo period, which began with the reign of the Tokugawa clan and lasted from 1603 to 1868. It was at this time that control over the fishing, processing and sale of sea cucumbers ("namako") to China was combined under the shogunate. During these three centuries, the modest "namako" brought the maximum export income for the then Japan. As a result, this type of trepang had a strong impact not only on the country's economy, it also left a strong imprint on the national culture of Japan. The name "namako" is mentioned in Japanese Hoku poetry more often than a full moon, fresh snow or Japanese Cherr "sakura" blossoms ("Rise, Ye Sea Slugs!" Robin D. Gill. 2003). The Japanese secrets of the local processing of sea cucumbers are still strictly guarded and are usually performed by women, their men just have to fish it. One of the wholesalers in Hong Kong blurted out to me that when boiling sea cucumbers, the Japanese add freshly cut sagebrush to boiling water, and also they deliberately put pieces of rusty scrap metal into modern stainless steel digesters. It is unlikely that these are the all secrets, but the fact remains that the retail prices for such trepang in supermarkets in the Chinese city of Qingdao is comparable to the price of a troy ounce of gold. On the shelves, they ask 9600 yuan or $ 1300 per a half kilo which is close to the pound of drie
d product (Personal observations of the author in 2010).
About the study of this species
In view of the long history of consumption of the "Japanese" sea cucumber and its milleniums-old demand in the Chinese market, as well as the richness of the nutrient components of this organism, it is one of the most comprehensively studied marine inhabitants of macrobenthos. In Russia, this was facilitated by the presence of research organizations and universities, where only in Vladivostok work such academic institutions as Institute of marine biology, Institute of geography, Institute of oceanology, and Pacific Institute of bioorganic chemistry. There are the fishery scientific TINRO-center, two universities, federal and Dalrybvtuz as well. From the last century to the present, their scientists and employees have carried out a lot of research, and have published hundreds of articles devoted to the study of trepang and the work continues at the present time.
For the very first time Stichopus japonicus Selenka was described by the famous German zoologist Emil Selenka in 1867. In the Chinese treatise on healing organisms and herbs (Compendium of Materia Medica Classic Collection Complete Works Original Genuine Li Shizhen), trepang was introduced in the middle of 1600s and I dare to assume that it was this particular species.
Scientific publications contain detailed data on its taxonomy, life cycles, lifestyle, behavior, anatomy, genetics, chemical composition, geographical distribution, population structure, fishing history, cultivation methods and other aspects. In the book of my dear mentor V.S. Levin alone, "Far Eastern Trepang" (2006), the author reffers to about three hundred books and articles ton this object written in Russian and English languages . Naturally, there are many authors writing in Chinese, Korean and Japanese that remain difficult to reach them by european readers. However, modern Internet search systems and translation programs are providing new opportunities in our age. Many studies are in development particulary on the genetic population of the species. It's individual and group behavior is still insufficiently studied, as the seasonal migration and organizational mobility in different bottom landscapes. Much work is expected on the part of marine biochemists because of this organism is arguably is one of the richest in chemical composition of its tissues. Many original books and compilations have been released in Chinese, English, Russian and Japanese. There are the books on the historical influence of this species of sea cucumbers on the economy and culture of the Japanese nation. The modern full name of this species is taken as a homotypic synonym for the original taxon and is published asApostichopus japonicus Selenk a.
The history of "trepanging" or sea cucumber fishery in Russia
We can only guess about the distant history of the sea cucumber fishery in the current region of Russian Far East, in Primorye (Primorsky krai) in particular. For the periods of the rule of this territory by the Bohai kingdoms in 698-926 AD and the Chzhurzhenes in 1115-1234 trepanging did not leave any evidence of such after disintegration of the kingdoms. At the same time, we are well aware that the marine coastal fishing of the local population has been very active since ancient times. Here are abundance of seashell-midden available,consisted in billions of oyster shells primarily , in the coastal sediments in the places of ancient settlements (Brodyansky D.L., Rakov V.A.) Yet, the soft tissues of trepangs, if they were harvested, did not leave any traces.
After the Peking Treaty of 1860, Russia received the rights on the vast Far-Eastern territory including Primorye ( Peking Treaty (1860), Wikipedia ). That was the time when the modern statehood and the first written evidences of the economic activities of the local population appeared. Those reports included coastal fishing and marine harvesting businesses. At the time they were practiced mainly by korean natives, as well as the Chinese, Japanese and some endemic folks (..).
Starting from this time till modern days the history of that region was very turbulent.
The development of the remote territories under Russian administration was marked by the "Manza" wars with the local "Hunhuz" gangs. It was interrupted by the war with Japan at the beginning of the 20th century, then the Russian revolution of 1917 happened, followed by the foreign intervention and the civil war. After them the Tsarist rule was replaced by the Soviet one, which abolished most of the private businesses. Just before the World War2 , all the Korean and Chinese population was completely deported from the region to Central Asia. After the WWII there the Cold one had started, which led to further internal militarization and isolation of the region. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, the Iron Curtain been dropped and the country's borders get wide open. Remarkably all of these historical events affected Apostichopus japonicus population dramatically. They were changing participants of the industry, the scale of harvesting and intensity, the methods and techniques, the social role of the business and the market, the public ignorance and understanding, the civil level and criminal involvement, the strictness of control and regulation. It is in new development at the moment. The only thing we don't know if the stichopus itself is aware of this.
Before the revolution.
As mentioned before, in1860s, the local Korean peasants were mostly engaged in trepang harvesting in the area. They were using simple rowing and sailing boats, and long spears or scoop-nets as the fishing gear. Such tools were good in shallow water up to 4 meters deep and to spot the object on the bottom they were using "mirror" as they called. It was floating small robust wooden box with clear glass bottom to see the floor visually. For the deeper fishing, these peasants applied simple dredges with a metal frame and a net bag attached.
The other old reports are mentioning free diving as trepang collecting method from the sea. Again the divers were skilled korean women capable to pick up sea cucumbers at the depth up to 10 meters. Those women were strong enough for continuous diving in 1-2 hours before they need to climb boat to warm up.They were picking free laying trepang by hands placing them in small mesh bags tied to their waste. While surfaced they were replacing them in bigger bags that were attached to big tin canisters afloat. They worked as a team up to ten divers on single boat. A korean man was the master on the boat who supervised the divers and their catch "who was constantly smoking pipe" (....).
The work of these women was more productive than any other fishing method at the time. It was mentioned that such divers could be "bought" as "wholesale" purchase by team for a season. One diver would worth one hundred rubles on this condition . For the art of being under water for a long time, Local folks nicknamed those women "baba nerpa" ("broad seal"(( https://konkurent.ru/article/27910 ).
Trepanging fleet was consisting of hundreds "junks" numbered in the areas of the Peter the Great Bay and Posyet Bay and some areas up north from the bays. Fishing was carried out from "ice to ice" season. It could have been started late in April ant last through the end of November. Then the boats were pulled ashore before the freeze-up. Some witnesses were participating in establishing russian Posyet outpost, and they were mentioning about thousand "junks" wintered nearby on the Nazimov Spit (Churkhado). The prominent russian pionier V. Arseniev admitted this scale of the boats number in Vladivostok area .... Also he noted that China does not have its own trepang, since it was completely wiped out by their fishermen long time ago (V.K. Arseniev, 1906)
According to N.P. Matveev's information found in the " Brief Historical Sketch of the City of Vladivostok, 1860-1910, it says " in 1867, "... 800 poods of trepangs (sea worms) were exported from Primorye." That is about 13 tons of, probably, dried product. The same figure was later confirmed by M. Venyukov in 1873 (...) and D. Bogdanov in 1909, who literally stated it as follows: “Hundreds of Chinese junks, schooners and scows came here ( to Vladivostok ) and uncontrollably loaded their trepangs unpaid and untaxed"(...)
In fact, this fishing was not free for the peasants. All fishing and trade was controlled by the seasonally coming Chinese gangs of Honghuzi. Each boat owner had to pay 1(00)? ruble for the right to fish and hand over all the catch to the representatives of these gangs. The Honghuzes also controlled the processing, cooking and drying of sea cucumbers, which they exported across the border to China lately.
Once established Russian administration had started developing control and regulation over local industries. On this way the state faced fierce resistance from Honghuzi. These ethnic gangs had long history of their own control over all lucrative and beneficial businesses in the area. They were well organized, armed and extremely violent. Besides the fisheries, they had controlled gold prospectors, ginseng root diggers. They were engaged in opium trade,in processing of "hanshin" or moonshine vodka. They had practiced racketeering and extortion from successful merchants and farmers. The Honghuzi did not disdain demonstrative intimidation, torture, murder, theft of children and women, and they were not going to give it up to the government. The tsarist administration was forced to use regular army to fight these gangs when trying to organize control over gold mining on the island of Askold, as well as during construction of the railway (...).
One way or another a number of rules were introduced and some kind of control over marine production was established at the turn of the century. The coastal waters were divided into areas in which fishing for trepang was allowed and their alternation was practiced. After one or two seasons of work, the some fished areas were closed for restoration of trepang population, but the others were opened. Peasants were given fishing permits either individually or collectively for an entire villages. The same ethnic koreans who adopted Russian citizenship were main forces driving sea cucumber harvesting. Also, the government leased out part of the aquatic areas along the coast to japanese companies. The japanese had a good command of the trepang processing technique and had excellent sales of it to China at the highest prices. That were them who had pioneered usage of diving equipment to pick up sea cucumbers it this area in 1887. It was very modern for those times and lead to dominant technique in the prospect. The divers productivity was 30-35 times more effective than any other traditional, peasant fishing methods.
Than the dramatic events associated with the coups and wars that began in 1905 to 1924 severely disrupted the structure and organization of all economic activities in this region. The Japanese, who sent their troops to the Russian Far East in 1918, took advantage of the chaos and established intensive diving trepanging, which lasted until the japanese forces were driven out in 1922.
After the revolution
After the establishment of Soviet power in the region, life began to organizing again. The permits were issued. All foreign trepang catchers were banned from trepanging and diving method of harvesting for sea cucumbers was well mastered. This method was legally and practically accepted by both private partnerships and state-owned companies. At the same time, the traditional "Manza" peasant fishing was preserved, carried out by the same native Koreans with their traditional primitive tools. The volume of fishing during these years amounted to .....
.......
.....
It lasted for decade and half when steady harvesting prevailed with fair control and reports of the catch by the locations and by the participants as well.
Then another danger arised on the eve of the WW2. In 1938 new military conflict had happened between Soviet and Japanese forces on the Russian Korean border at the most southern zone of the region. Due to increased danger of the Japanese invasion the entire oriental population of Primorye was deported to Central Asia, particularly to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Almost 200 thousand people were relocated, estimsred 172 thousand of them were Korean nation. With this all the "Manzovsky" peasant trepanging business had ceased and the remnants of the gangs of "Honghuzi" disappeared too.. The sea cucumber fishery had completely passed into the hands of cooperatives and state-owned enterprises. From now on, it was heavy diving equipment harvesting only. Due to bulky suit, heavy helmet and chest lead weight diver would pick up sea cucumber from the bottom with a sharp gaff ("bagorok") and put it in mesh bag ("pitomza"). Once the bag is filled full he will pass it to boat crew for evisceration and do bag exchange.
In 1941, the big war began.
During the war, most of the capable males were drafted and the trepang trade and fishing had stopped for another decade.
After the war in 1950s, it was revived, but due to the new political problems, foreign trade entirely came under state control and private business practically ceased.
Thirty wooden "kawasaki" motorboats, built on the prototype of pre-revolutionary Japanese fishermen, equipped with modern diesel engines and motor pumps for air supply, plowed for long summer seasons along the coast of southern Primorye from Russky Island to Furugelm Island and in all the inner bays of Peter the Great and Posiet bays. All of them belonged to one fish processing plant on Popov Island in the city of Vladivostok. Over time, towards the end of the 1970s, based on the results of their research, marine biologists of the Pacific Institute (TINRO) concluded that continuous fishing had seriously depleted the local stocks of trepang ......... tsifiri.
On this basis, in 1979, a complete state ban was introduced on its further fishing. Surprisingly, the introduction of the ban coincided this year with the strongest hurricane Irving, which on August 18 smashed all the wooden hulls of diving motorbots standing near the dock of the fish processing plant. This was the end of the Soviet period of trepang fishing. The status of the remaining stocks was estimated at ........... mln specimens compared to the estimated value of ........... before the start of the fishery.
In the Soviet years, people from one state-owned enterprise were engaged in the extraction of trepang, and export operations were carried out by another, and the state took most of the foreign exchange earnings to the treasury, leaving only wages to the workers. This led to the fact that people of that time did not see and did not know the real value and significance of this fishing facility. At the same time, in all restaurants in the city of Vladivostok, which were also state-owned, the standard dish "Skoblyanka from Trepanga" was served, which was considered an exotic dish. In addition to Vladivostok, the same dish was prepared in the capital's Pekin restaurant in Moscow. It was ordered by curious lovers of exotic cuisine, rare tourists, and there were also real fans of the unique recipe. It is difficult to find the author of this cuisine, but it was clearly one of the Slavs, because the name itself and the main ingredients, which included pork goulash, as well as sliced potatoes, onions and boiled trepang, speak for this. They were all fried together. The recipe for the scrapbook is described by the TINRO staff in the popular book "200 seafood dishes" (O. Selyuk, M. Shchadrin, Vladivostok, 1969). China at that time was still a closed and hostile state from which almost no information was received, Japan was also an inaccessible country. In the aggregate of such circumstances, the then population of the country in its bulk was rather ignorant of the trepang.
Post soviet time
Everything changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. All borders suddenly opened up and masses of people began to travel in all directions. The fall of barriers and the disintegration into 16 separate countries severely destroyed the economy of the former unified state. Many people remained unemployed and had to look for ways to survive in the new conditions. It was in such conditions that the trepang phenomenon arose. A lot of Chinese entrepreneurs of various sizes entered Primorye. Most of them held large amounts of US currency cash and showed a keen interest in natural derivatives. Trepang was in great demand among them, and the impoverished local people were actively engaged in collecting trepang in all possible ways. Due to the complete ban on catching trepang, its catch was absolutely illegal poaching. The methods of its processing, its clandestine sale for cash to foreign representatives, as well as the subsequent smuggling across the border into China were not legal. Added to poaching and smuggling was the rapidly spreading corruption of all branches new government, police and customs authorities. The general degradation of statehood at that time led to an epidemic level of widespread lawlessness and criminal activity. Moreover, the previously intelligent and law-abiding citizens were forced to be involved in the trepang fishing. For them, it was a matter of survival and ensuring the existence of their families in the new conditions. The demand for sea cucumber grew continuously, and Chinese buyers, competing with each other, brought the purchase price to $ 30 per kilogram of raw sea cucumber. Considering that the product itself was given to the fishers by nature, and their costs were only the cost of equipment, for charging scuba tanks with air, then when working with an approach from the shore, the income was more than 800% in relation to the costs incurred (Lebedev A., 2006). When working in places far from the coast, the cost of watercraft was added, but the earnings still turned out to be huge, especially compared to the regular salaries of that time. One diver could earn over a thousand dollars in one day.
The vigorous activity of the miners attracted the attention of organized criminals, which took control of the trepang fishery. The fishing areas were soon divided between various gangs and the individual earners were taxed, as in the times of the "hunhuz", or, in case of disagreement, were forcibly expelled from this business. Due to the intense competition between the gangs themselves, bloody showdowns with the use of weapons arose, there were numerous victims, including lethal ones. The security forces, despite almost hopeless corruption, have been trying for many years to cope with poaching and smuggling. There have been numerous arrests, detentions and confiscations of catches, equipment and vehicles. This forced the catchers to work at night, in bad weather, under the ice in winter, which led to great risks, up to the death of people. There are publications from which it follows that in twenty years at least 5% of trepangolids have died under water (...). Many witnesses admit that this figure is significantly underestimated and it is easy for me to agree with them because three of my former colleagues from marine biologists and engineers died in this particular fishery. The body of one of them was found at a depth of 30 meters, the other died in shallow water due to the poor condition of the equipment and unqualified assistance from a fishing accomplice. The third was covered not far from the coast with a field of drifting ice hundreds of tons weighing and half a mile in length. that this figure is significantly underestimated and it is easy for me to agree with them because three of my former colleagues from marine biologists and engineers died in this particular field. The body of one of them was found at a depth of 30 meters, the other died in shallow water due to the poor condition of the equipment and unqualified assistance from a fishing accomplice. The third was covered not far from the coast with a field of drifting ice hundreds of tons weighing and half a mile in length. that this figure is significantly underestimated and it is easy for me to agree with them because three of my former colleagues from marine biologists and engineers died in this particular field. The body of one of them was found at a depth of 30 meters, the other died in shallow water due to the poor condition of the equipment and unqualified assistance from a fishing accomplice. The third was covered not far from the coast with a field of drifting ice hundreds of tons weighing and half a mile in length.
Over the past 20 years of frantic poaching of trepang, according to a scientist from the Far Eastern Academic Institute of Geography Andrei Lebedev, according to his conservative estimates, ... tons of a valuable product worth at least 600 million US dollars (... ). For this, all these years, he had to meticulously collect data from the customs authorities, read the reports of the Border Coast Guard, analyze the aggregate operation of compressor stations for charging scuba gear, use private anonymous sources among the direct catchers of sea cucumbers to find out the performance of diving fishing, and also conduct underwater monitoring of the state of populations in different years and in different water areas of the Primorsky Territory.
As a result of uncontrolled poaching sea cucumber production dropped sharply by 2005-2006. By this time, the statehood of the country began to strengthen, the economic situation began to improve, government services strengthened, legal entrepreneurs who had accumulated capital began to invest in mariculture, where the trepang now occupies the first place. It is he who turns out to be the most profitable object for pasture breeding in natural bays. Chinese buyers appreciate it for its quality. It grows in Primorye in natural landscapes in clean and relatively cold-water bays. To date, more than a dozen factory nurseries have already been built in the Primorsky Territory for the artificial production of juvenile sea cucumbers. Environmental authorities have been strengthened, widespread corruption has sharply decreased and rules have been developed for the cultivation of marine objects.
Two decades of "trepang fever" were not in vain. The local sea cucumber inevitably designated its top fishery status that can seriously and for a long time affect the economy of the coastal settlements of the region, their social life, it can raise the level of understanding of marine ecology and our dependence on it. Academic institutes, TINRO-Center and technologists from local universities are developing medicinal trepang extracts. In the same period, an unthinkable recipe for the national product "trepang on honey" appeared, which, unlike the trepang itself, became available to local people and shows serious healing results. Also "out of nowhere" in the city of Vladivostok there was a "Trepang Museum". The forgotten book "The Hunt for the Blue Trepang" has become popular and the entire population of the region is now well familiar with the old name of the Golden Horn Bay, on which the city itself stands. Previously, it was nothing more than Haishenwai 海参崴, which in translation should mean "Bay of sea cucumber " or even "Bay of blue sea cucumber ", but Google now uniquely translates these hieroglyphs with the modern name Vladivostok.
Today, real and capable companies are working in the Primorsky Territory, winning auctions and settling tens of millions of viable juvenile trepangs. This is not a cheap business, it requires a multi-million dollar investment, but it looks like we are witnessing the beginning of a new era. Who knows, maybe someone will call it the era of the "golden trepang" over time!)
As Dr. Emmett said from the Back to the Future trilogy: "This story has yet to be written!"
The very same author of this opus, the trepang overtook like a storm. If in his youth he simply aroused strong curiosity, then since 1998 I was carried to the boat of Karl Shiits, on which I had to catch and gut a Californian poet by the thousands, preferring this to work as a taxi driver or a painter, a common thing for forced immigrants in the New World. Igor Sudarkin, one of the first Soviet aquanauts who worked in the Chernomor-2 underwater laboratory, sent me to Karl.
Karl was the son of the legendary Robert C. Sheats, a naval diver captured by the Japanese in the Philippines. Robert survived and wrote the book One Man's War. Diving guest of the Emperor, 1942) after the war he worked as a diving instructor in the navy and was a member of the crew of the Sea Lab submarine house in San Diego from which they were able to contact the astronaut Scott Carpenter in orbit. He, Robert Sheets, after his retirement became one of the pioneers of the extraction of local trepang in Washington state. For me then it was a temporary occupation that will help me to get out and find something more appropriate .. But recently my old friend asked: “How long will you dive?” To which I replied: “Yes, a couple of years, no more.” He laughed: “You answered exactly the same way fifteen years ago!” It shocked me a lot. After all, from the day Academician Viktor Alekseevich Zhirmunsky was invited to the Institute of Marine Biology back in 1981, I was sure that I would serve science. I was charged for it. I had a lot of ideas and plans. And now there is. Instead, I had to work on a dozen different boats. Besides Puget Sounds, I have spent seasons in Craig in southeastern Alaska. Sixteen seasons have been worked out on Kodiak Island, where we even have a cooperative. I got my own boat, I have a lifetime mining license in Washington. Local friends believe that I have very successful business and reputation, there is also the respect of close colleagues in the field. Health, however, is shabby. I was charged for it. I had a lot of ideas and plans. And now there is. Instead, I had to work on a dozen different boats. Besides Puget Sounds, I have spent seasons in Craig in southeastern Alaska. Sixteen seasons have been worked out on Kodiak Island, where we even have a cooperative. I got my own boat, I have a lifetime mining license in Washington. Local friends believe that I have very successful business and reputation, there is also the respect of close colleagues in the field. Health, however, is shabby. I was charged for it. I had a lot of ideas and plans. And now there is. Instead, I had to work on a dozen different boats. Besides Puget Sounds, I have spent seasons in Craig in southeastern Alaska. Sixteen seasons have been worked out on Kodiak Island, where we even have a cooperative. I got my own boat, I have a lifetime mining license in Washington. Local friends believe that I have very successful business and reputation, there is also the respect of close colleagues in the field. Health, however, is shabby. has a lifetime mining license in Washington DC. Local friends believe that I have very successful business and reputation, there is also the respect of close colleagues in the field. Health, however, is shabby. has a lifetime mining license in Washington DC. Local friends believe that I have very successful business and reputation, there is also the respect of close colleagues in the field. Health, however, is shabby.
A few years ago, an unknown young biologist from England called. He found a small publication in the library of the Vietnamese Institute of Oceanology in Nha Trang about 29 species of sea cucumbers that I found near the islands in the Gulf of Thailand during the 1986 expedition and briefly described them. He asked, "Sir, do you have any other articles about these objects?" "No!" - was my answer: "I now do not study them, but mine." “How sad!” He said and hung up.
If this chapter is included in the book, my special thanks will be to Andy Suhrbrier of the Pacific Shelfish Institute, one of their great seven, who got me back into my academic orbit at least somewhat. It will also be my grateful tribute to Academician A.V. Zhirmunsky as a small compensation for the betrayal of his profession, although it was forced.
