Source: Friendship International submitted to NRP
DEVELOPMENT OF SEA URCHIN AQUACULTURE IN MAINE, PHASE 1
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0203114
Grant No.
2005-33610-15487
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
2005-00373
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
May 1, 2005
Project End Date
Dec 31, 2006
Grant Year
2005
Program Code
[8.7]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
Friendship International
(N/A)
Camden,ME 04843
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Loss of sea urchin biomass due to overfishing has led to loss of market share in the lucrative Japanese market. Natural recovery of stocks will not occur without the stock enhancement efforts and/or a complete shutdown of the fishery. A shutdown is not feasible because once the industry infrastructure is gone, it is unlikely to come back. The surviving harvesters, buyers and processors in this fishery are highly motivated to see this lucrative fishery prosper again. Aquaculture efforts are being supported by many of the remaining participants.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
30737991020100%
Knowledge Area
307 - Animal Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
3799 - Cultured aquatic animals, general/other;

Field Of Science
1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
The State of Maine was the dominant supplier of the lucrative Japanese sea urchin roe market during the 1990's. The fishery of the green sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, was second only to the lobster fishery in Maine during that decade, peaking in 1993 with an annual harvest of 50,000,000 pounds worth approximately $40,000,000 at first sale. Beginning in 2000-2001, Japanese processors began buying Russian urchins from the Kuril Islands and Maine's fishery suffered the effects of overfishing. Friendship International was the leading supplier of live sea urchins to the Japanese market during the 1990's but our business has suffered recently with the decline in the fishery here in Maine and the influx of Russian urchins. The Russians are harvesting in an unsustainable fashion and it is critical that Maine rebuilds its urchin stocks while the Japanese buy these Russian urchins. The Russians will exhaust their stocks quickly and the Japanese will look to Maine again at that time. We must have a viable fishery when that occurs if we are to regain our previous market share. There is growing consensus that the Maine urchin fishery will not be sustainable if left to recover naturally. Therefore, it is becoming obvious that aquaculture of sea urchins is the only way to enhance remaining wild populations and thereby restore the biomass to sufficient size to support a commercially viable fishery.
Project Methods
We propose to conduct juvenile outplanting studies with both hatchery raised and wild settled urchin seed on various bottom types, aimed at optimizing returns and growth. We also plan to build a pilot scale hatchery and broodstock conditioning unit and to produce out of season spawning broodstock urchins. We will develop site selection criteria for potential bottom lease sites based on knowledge of urchin biology and ecology, potential user conflicts and information provided by experienced urchin divers. Based on this information, we will apply for lease sites in the Penobscot Bay area and other areas within the Gulf of Maine. We have assembled a specialized team comprised of sea urchin exporters with knowledge of the products and market, urchin harvesters, a leading urchin biologist and a group of experienced aquaculture professionals to undertake this work.

Progress 05/01/05 to 12/31/06

Outputs
Phase 1 has been completed successfully and application for Phase 2 has been submitted. Phase 1 objectives completed as follows: 1. Assessment of outplanting strategies completed at 2 different lease sites and 3 different bottom types. 2. Development of sea urchin hatchery and broodstock conditioning system at the University of Maine Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research (CCAR) at Franklin, Maine. 3. Established 2 experimental lease sites in Penobscot Bay. Approved and granted by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Conducted extensive spawning trials on broodstock urchins taken from Penobscot Bay. Placed oyster cages on bottom at both lease sites and attached mesh tubes with 100 juvenile sea urchins placed in each tube. Total of 5400 sea urchins at the 2 sites. Monitored growth rates at each site after 3 and 6 months and recorded results. Were able to garner conclusive evidence that juvenile urchins would grow faster in higher current site and that the juvenile urchins could survive on the algae that accumulated on the tubes and would not have to be fed. Since the start of the project in May 2005, the Maine sea urchin fishery has continued to trend downward despite drastic reductions in fishing effort. It is becoming more and more obvious that wild stocks will not recover without help. Our work is at the forefront of potential reseeding efforts that could save this fishery in the future. Despite loss of market share in Japan, Maine urchins have maintained a strong presence in the market due to superior quality of Maine urchins. Maine harvesters are getting much higher prices for their product than divers in California, Canada, Alaska and other urchin producing countries. This is strong evidence that Japan still wants our sea urchin and we must rebuild our resources for a future that could well include an increasing market share as Russian resources continue to be over exploited. PI, Wadsworth has spent considerable time selling this project to the industry. There has been opposition to the concept of privately owned lease sites and the loss of bottom to aquaculture interests. However, that opposition has largely been assuaged as wild stocks continue to show signs of overfishing and harvesters realize that hatcheries and reseeding efforts may be in their best interest. Phase 1 work demonstrates the feasibility of growing juvenile urchins through late nursery stage in low cost structures on the sea bottom. System now needs to be scaled up in size to commercial scale.

Impacts
Maine was the dominant supplier of sea urchin products to the lucrative Japanese market during the 1990's. Around the year 2000, Japan switched largely to Russian based supplies in the Kuril Islands which were less expensive and available in large quantity and could be imported by ship rather than by air freight. Maine supplies were overfished and more expensive. This trend has continued to the present but there is reason to believe that Russian sources will be over exploited and Maine can be in position to regain lost market share if we have the resources at that time. Without supplementing remaining wild stocks with hatchery produced seed and reseeding efforts, it seems unlikely. So our work is crucial to maintaining this industry. The East Penobscot Bay Environmental Alliance (EPBEA) is the largest environmental group in our area and they have been watching our project. They asked me to attend one of their meetings and report on the project. After doing so, and explaining that we are not impacting the environment significantly and have no visible structures on the site, they were very supportive of this project. There is considerable interest in more local management of all fisheries and other marine activities along the Maine Coast. Stewardship of marine resources could be improved by local management. Our project fits well with that blueprint.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period