A win for marine ecosystems and human toes has also been a win for fine dining.
Rarely is the phrase “overfishing” used in a positive light when it comes to conservation, but a policy that led to intentional culling of sea urchins in Tasmania turned out to be a success for marine ecosystems.
The long spined sea urchin has been terrorising the seas bordering Tasmania since 1978, as rising ocean temperatures have enabled them to expand their territory southward.
In that time, they have transformed over 15% of the island’s kelp beds into barren rock, forcing at least 150 species of animal to find a new home.
They’re like the rude houseguest who comes over and cleans out your pantry, only they’ll also plonk down in your living room and spawn babies all over your nice rug.
Eradicating the pest along the entire coastline was out of the question, according to new research published in Nature Sustainability, and the state government came up with a new solution: eating the problem.
Urchin roe has become quite the fine-dining superstar within Australia and is considered a delicacy in some cultures.
Since 2016, commercial fisheries have been subsidised to harvest sea urchins. Following the introduction of the subsidy, the urchin catch jumped from less than 100 tonnes per year to around 500 per year.
University of Tasmania marine researcher Dr Katie Cresswell said urchin overfishing was specifically encouraged in areas where kelp forests were still healthy.
“The goal is ‘functional eradication’, which is about setting a target density below one that results in ecosystem destruction like urchin barrens – but not aiming for total eradication which would be extremely expensive, ultimately unsuccessful, and would likely crash the control mechanism itself,” she said.
This humble Back Page scribe admits to having personal beef with spiny sea urchins, having experienced their venomous attack firsthand while swimming at a Sydney beach pool last July*, and hopes the creatures will get what’s coming.
*Yes, I swam in winter. While I may have ended up with urchin in my toe, it did make me feel like a superior being for several days following. I hope to receive my Bravest Woman Award in the post any day now.
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