Aquaculture Industry: Could sea urchins be next?
Image of Sea UrchinPhoto: Photography Unit, Macquarie University
© Photography Unit, Macquarie University
Sea urchin roe is considered a delicacy throughout Asia, particularly in Japan, where it fetches high prices. While a global sea urchin aquaculture industry has sprung up to meet increasing demand, there is as yet no equivalent industry in Australia, which is surprising given that Australian sea urchin roe is rated very highly.
"Although we have a small industry in natural harvesting of sea urchins in Australia, we don't have any sea urchin aquaculture," says Williamson. "That to me is a real problem because our natural harvests are not able to keep up with the demand that we have overseas and if we harvest more we're likely to see a huge cascade of effects on different marine life in the ecosystem. In most of the places worldwide that have been commercially targeted, urchins have been overharvested - in many cases to extinction.
"If we can get good quality roe through aquaculture, however, we can export the urchins live for about $9 each. Potentially this could become the second-largest aquaculture industry in Australia behind tuna farming in South Australia."
To discover how our sea urchins produce top quality roe, Williamson will study the growth, quality and reproduction of three local varieties, fed on three different diets - two artificial sea urchin diets from overseas, and a mixed algal diet resembling what the urchins would naturally eat in the wild.
