'...[S]ea cucumbers were the preserve of the very rich, who presented each other with ornate boxes of the luxury product in dried form. However, the burgeoning of China’s middle classes since the 1980s has led to an exponential increase in demand...' https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/strange-maps-sea-cucumber-crime #foodhistory #delicacies
Sea Cucumber Crime Is a Thing, and This Is Where It’s Happening

A "seafood mafia" is plying the waters between India and Sri Lanka to satisfy China's appetite for an increasingly rare delicacy.

Atlas Obscura