Posted on February 5, 2004 at 2:13 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Making one aspect of the fishing industry more environmentally friendly could actually make it more profitable. A University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researcher is looking at ways to establish a land-based aquaculture system for sea urchin breeding to bolster the seafood industry while preserving fragile marine ecosystems.

UAB biology professor Stephen Watts, Ph.D., has received a two-year, $230,000 grant from the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium to study the feasibility of building a land-based aquaculture system for sea urchins.

In 2001, the United States shipped nearly $86 million in sea urchin roe, commonly known as Uni in the sushi industry, to Japan. That is down from a high of $174 million in the mid-1990s, a decline due to the falling numbers of sea urchins in U.S. coastal waters.

“If we go to land-based farming, we can reduce harvest from the natural environment, which is a huge plus for marine ecosystems worldwide, Watts said. “Every single natural edible sea urchin population that has been harvested has been greatly reduced. They are found throughout the Gulf of Mexico and most bodies of water around the world, and are considered a keystone species. If you take them out of the marine community, the whole community changes. Their elimination can cause substantial changes in the natural food web, potentially altering other animal and plant species.”

Watts said the grant allows UAB researchers to advance from basic biological research to applied science and to develop a potential aquaculture system for the animal.

“That means we can create potential business opportunities in the United States to produce sea urchins to sell to Japan and Europe, another large market for the delicacy,” he said. “In Japan alone, uni often costs $15 to $100 per pound.”

Watts said sea urchin production facilities would not have to be located on the coast. By utilizing large tanks, the sea urchins could be grown just about anywhere in the country. Watts and his fellow researchers have been working with sea urchins for the past 20 years and already can successfully breed them in the laboratory. Now, he says, it is time to apply that expertise in the field.

With the help of two private-industry partners, Tiltech, a fish hatchery in Louisiana looking to expand its horizons, and Opposing Flows Technology, a tank distributor in Florida, Watts said he hopes to be ready to establish sea-urchin farms at the end of the two-year study.