A unique trial project involving sea urchins is taking place in Departure Bay.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans researchers stationed at the Pacific Biological Station are currently ranching thousands of sea urchins as part of a 12-week project that will determine whether the critters can be farmed on a commercially viable scale.
“At the end of 12 weeks we will open them up and get the final roe yield and quality and send them off to some processors and clients in Japan to test them for the taste,” said Chris Pearce, a DFO researcher.
Sea urchins contain roe or uni, a gooey reproductive material that can be processed for human consumption. Uni is generally consumed raw and has been extremely popular in Japan for years, but is becoming more popular in other markets.
The more than 3,000 urchins in the trials are being stored in special trays that sit on the ocean floor near Brandon Islands, according to Pearce, who said some of the urchins are being given a prepared diet while others are strictly fed kelp.
“We put them in these trays and we put them on a prepared diet that is prepared in Norway specifically for sea urchins,” he said. “The feed bulks them up and gives them the right colour. But if it doesn’t give them the right taste then it is pretty much useless.”
The project was spearheaded by Brian Takeda, founder of Norway-based Urchinomics, which supplied the DFO with the equipment. As part of their research, Pearce and his team will also determine what kind of impact a prepared diet versus kelp has on sea urchins and the ocean floor itself.
“We are actually going to be looking at the rate of fecal and uneaten feed in production and see if it is substantially different from just controlled areas without sea urchins,” Pearce said. “The research looks at how this prepared diet does versus kelp. We are looking at both green and red urchins. We are concerned about the potential impacts on the sea floor.”
Should the trial yield successful results, it could pave the way for commercial operations in B.C.
According to Takeda, the demand for uni, which can sell for more than $22 a kilogram, is increasing in Japan, China and North America.
“What our Japanese partners here are telling us is that they think their market size could more than double in Japan if the supply is available. The demand for urchin has been growing consistently for the last 20 years, but the problem is that supply is not available.”
Takeda said sea urchins have been over-fished in the waters surrounding Japan and China, whereas in some parts of Canada the sea urchin population is out of control.
“Canada also suffers from urchin barrens. There are a number of barrens on the east and west coast,” he said. “What we’ve discovered is there are areas, for example in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Quebec, that have some pretty serious urchin barrens, which means the oceans are not as productive as they could be.”
Takeda, who once lived in Vancouver, said he knows how serious British Columbians are about protecting the ocean and is supportive of the scientific research being done in Nanaimo.
“I firmly believe that science needs to take a leading role in any future aquaculture venture. Every time we move into new regions or new markets we always partner with the leading scientific authorities, so that we do things right from day one, as opposed to doing something on our own and screwing it up,” he said.
Sea urchin farming doesn’t produce the waste or require the daily feeding of other fish aqauculture, such as salmon farming, according to Takeda.
“Unlike fin-fish aquaculture, which requires the grow out of the animal over many many years, our farming process is at most three months and we only feed once a week,” he said. “We don’t think there will be any feed waste because the feed is specifically designed not to leave the cages.”
Takeda said his vision is to eventually see his company establishing sea urchin farms in coastal communities along Vancouver Island and has been in discussions with various First Nations about providing their communities with some economic opportunities.