STORY: Beneath the surface of Japan’s Sagami Bay are heaps of spiky, black sea urchins.
:: Zushi, Japan
Researchers say the population here is booming – and that while sea urchins naturally graze on marine plants…
their excessive numbers have contributed to the desertification of the coastline.
But on land, one research center is trying something different in an effort to control the population: feeding them cabbage.
:: THIS EARTH
With so many sea urchins along Sagami Bay, volunteer groups have taken to collecting them and shipping them off to be used as fertilizer.
Researcher Shozo Takamura at the Kanagawa Fisheries Technology Center explains the issue.
:: Shozo Takamura, Researcher, Kanagawa Fisheries Technology Center
“There are lots of sea urchins in the places where seagrasses have disappeared. Divers and fishermen dive down in their bathing suits to collect and get rid of them, but their numbers have barely fallen so clearly there are a huge number of them.”
:: Miura, Japan
The center is trying out another use for the collected urchins… and it starts with their diet.
Here’s researcher Yutaka Harada.
:: Yutaka Harada, Researcher, Kanagawa Fisheries Technology Center
“The urchins we’re raising here at the research center, which are Pacific purple sea urchins, really love vegetables like cabbage and komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach), leafy vegetables basically.”
The goal is to prove that by feeding the sea urchins vegetables on land, they can attract buyers.
The proceeds would in turn fund further efforts to remove the sea urchins and restore the region’s seagrass beds.
Harada says the team has already found it possible to raise delicious sea urchins on vegetables like cabbage and are now working on commercialization.
“We’re now working on supporting further efforts against ocean desertification by raising sea urchins on land, making them tastier and selling them to fund our work.”
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