![Abdoulaye Mansaray learnt about the business while processing sea cucumbers in Sierra Leone](https://earthdive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cucumber_170321-210x126.jpg)
In late 2019, Wilson Nimley, a field officer from the Liberian fisheries authority, stumbled across a group of strangers living in one of the remote coastal communities under his watch. They turned out to be divers from Sierra Leone, on a mission prospecting for sea cucumbers. These slimy, sausage-shaped members of the starfish family have no local market but are a valuable commodity in China as both a culinary delicacy and a medicinal ingredient.
Entering mainland China from around the world via Hong Kong, some varieties can fetch up to $6,000 (£4,300) per kilogram.
![Man wearing breathing equipment](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/8690/production/_117584443_lib3.jpg)
Neither Mr Nimley nor his superiors knew anything about the existence of these valuable creatures in Liberian wa...
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