Editing Echinoderm (section)

=== As food and medicine ===
[[File:Sea urchin eggs.jpg|thumb|Sea urchin being cut open to eat its eggs]]
[[File:Yokohama Chinese Medicine Sea cucumber 2.jpg|thumb|Sea cucumbers as [[traditional Chinese medicine]]]]

In 2019, 129,052 tonnes of echinoderms were harvested. The majority of these were sea cucumbers (59,262 tonnes) and sea urchins (66,341 tonnes).<ref>{{harvnb|FAO|loc=B-76}}</ref> These are used mainly for food, but also in [[traditional Chinese medicine]].<ref name="PangestutiArifin2018">{{harvnb|Pangestuti|Arifin|2018}}<!--Note: No WP:MEDRS claims are made in this Wikipedia article--></ref> Sea cucumbers are considered a delicacy in some countries of southeast Asia; as such, they are in imminent danger of being over-harvested.<ref>{{harvnb|NYTimes|2009}}</ref> Popular species include the pineapple roller ''[[Thelenota ananas]]'' (''susuhan'') and the red sea cucumber ''[[Holothuria edulis]]''. These and other species are colloquially known as ''bêche de mer'' or ''trepang'' in [[China]] and [[Indonesia]]. The sea cucumbers are boiled for twenty minutes and then dried both naturally and later over a fire which gives them a smoky tang. In China, they are used as a basis for gelatinous soups and stews.<ref>[[Wikisource:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bêche-de-Mer]]</ref> Both male and female gonads of sea urchins are consumed, particularly in [[Japan]] and [[France]]. The taste is described as soft and melting, like a mixture of seafood and fruit.<ref>{{harvnb|Lawrence|2001}}</ref><ref name="Davidson 2014">{{harvnb|Davidson|2014|p=730}}</ref> Sea urchin breeding trials have been undertaken to try to compensate for [[overexploitation]].<ref>{{harvnb|Sartori|Scuderi|Sansone|Gaion|2015}}</ref>