The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is proposing an emergency ban on harvesting sea cucumbers in Hawaii’s nearshore waters after officials were alerted to recent incidents of over-harvesting off Oahu and Maui.

The state Land Board will consider the request at its scheduled June 26 meeting for the emergency rule to ban any taking of sea cucumbers for the next 120 days.

“Hopefully it will go into effect right away because this is a very rapidly evolving situation and we want to get a handle on it,” said Suzanne Case, director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The department’s Maui Community Fisheries Enforcement Unit discovered mass harvesting in certain areas off Maui in the last few weeks. Similar harvesting has also occurred at Kaiona Beach in Waimanalo in the last few days, officials said.

Though it’s not illegal to harvest the species in Hawaii, a license is required for commercial harvesting. Regardless, mass harvesting of the species poses a threat to the ecosystem, Case said.

“The problem with taking out one species in a whole ecosystem is you lose that function in the ecosystem, and sea cucumbers help clean up the debris in the water,” said Case at a news conference Thursday at the Kalanimoku Building.

Officials are asking those harvesting large quantities of sea cucumbers to stop immediately because of the detrimental impact on the ecosystem.

“This activity threatens to deplete a key species on our reefs in areas of mass harvest,” Alton Miyasaka, acting administrator for the Division of Aquatic Resources, said in a news release. “Sea cucumbers are important for the ecosystem because they clean up organic matter and recycle nutrients.”

At the news conference, Jason Redulla, acting chief of the Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement, declined to provide details on the harvesting off Oahu and Maui because of the ongoing investigation. He also declined to say whether the two cases are connected.

Case said there have been reports around the Pacific and around the world of mass harvesting of sea cucumbers for commercial exploitation, prompting complete closure of the fisheries in many locations.

“We’re very, very concerned about this,” she said. “Any unsustainable mass harvest of a resource threatens to upset the entire ecosystem.”

Officials are perplexed why mass harvesting off Hawaii’s waters is occurring at this time. Redulla said, “The take of the species is brand new here in Hawaii. There has not been a market here in Hawaii, traditionally or culturally. We’re not quite sure yet why the species is so lucrative at this point.”

Food-related websites describe certain species of sea cucumbers (loli in Hawaiian, “namako” in Japanese and “hai shen” in Chinese) as a delicacy in Asian countries. It’s also used for medicinal purposes.

Officials are asking anyone who observes mass harvesting of sea cucumbers in Hawaii to call the enforcement division’s hotline at 643-3567.