The Fish Site: The echinoderm cowboys who can help Norway's kelp
Urchinomics is opening its first land-based sea urchin ranch in Norway, in a project that could both improve marine habitats and help diversify the country's aquaculture sector.
Norway’s coastal waters were once home to undulating kelp forests, but sea urchin populations have exploded, with large numbers devouring the algae. Once everything has been eaten, the urchins remain alive for years, preventing any kelp from regenerating.
According to Philip James, senior scientist and sea urchin expert at Nofima, the Norwegian fisheries, aquaculture and food research institute, the situation is a huge concern.
“Sea urchins have been a long-term issue along the Norwegian coast in terms of their degradation of kelp forests for decades,” he says. “There is a huge biomass of them and undoubtedly they’ve consumed an equally huge biomass of kelp. They survive for a very long time with virtually no food, so once they’re established, they remain for decades.”