Picture if you can a thriving trading hub on the Australian coast. It uses imported capital equipment and processes, and temporary migrant labour, to extract and process an abundant natural resource for on-sale to China. The business brings wealth and prosperity to the local community. Over time, public debate emerges about whether rewards are being fairly divided between locals and foreigners, and how to manage ecological degradation. A mine or refinery in present day Western Australia or Queensland? Could be. But what I have actually just described are the arrangements for trading in trepang – or sea cucumbers, a ... (full story)