World Aquaculture March 2019

46 MARCH 2019 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S.ORG consumption is permitted, with a licensed limit of 5 kg/d, but production was not mentioned in the official bulletin of fisheries statistics (Ouréns 2013). According to FAO (2012), the greatest landings of sea urchin in the Atlantic region occur in Spain. The increase in global demand and consequently an increase in fishing effort, associated with biological and ecological factors of the species, led to instability of the stocks and annual recruitment indicated by a decrease in the abundance and biomass (Domínguez et al . 2015). The sea urchin fishery was, therefore, not sustainable and its continuous exploitation could jeopardize natural populations. In this context, aquaculture production in the short termmay contribute to its sustainability (Ouréns 2013). The production of echinoderms constitutes a challenge to the scientific community and aquaculture producers, mainly related to the existence of different phases over their lifecycle and the complex biotic relationships that occur during phase metamorphosis. There were several studies describing the development of the sea urchin, especially production in the Bay of Biscay (Galicia and Cantabria) and in the Mediterranean Sea (Boudouresque and Verlaque 2000, Ouréns 2013). In Portugal, the most recent research studies are related to ecology and population dynamics (Domínguez et al . 2015), sea urchins as a fisheries resource (Bertocci et al . 2014) and the fattening of individuals caught in the wild (Silva 2012). Gago (2009) studied the potential of eggs and endotrophic larvae for marine fish larval feeding. The Aquaculture Research Center (EPPO) of the Portuguese T he roe (gonads) of sea urchin is considered a delicacy in Asian countries, especially Japan and South Korea, but it also is consumed worldwide in diverse locations that include Chile, Polynesia, New Zealand, France and Spain. In the last five decades, demand for this product has gradually increased, causing a consequent expansion of industrial fishing activity, reaching a historical peak of 108,969 t in 1995 (FAO 2012). Catches have been decreasing since then (Cirino et al . 2017), mainly from collapse of fisheries and policy measures of population control in some fishing areas. The purple sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus is an echinoderm with a wide distribution that covers the Northeast Atlantic from Scotland to southern Morocco, and the Mediterranean (Boudouresque and Verlaque 2013). At present, overall catches of purple sea urchin from the Eastern Atlantic are relatively low but there are no data specific to this species (FAO 2012). In Europe, this species was consumed mostly in the Mediterranean countries, especially France (Carboni et al . 2014). In Spain, the consumption of sea urchin features notable regional differences, being more significant in the Asturias region where is part of traditional cuisine, and in some of the coastal areas of Galicia, Andalusia, Catalonia and Valencia. In Portugal, there is no tradition of consumption and therefore low demand in the domestic market. However, there was a major capture activity, mainly from the rocky beaches of the north coast of Portugal, for export (Bertocci et al . 2014, Domínguez et al . 2015). Traditional artisanal fisheries Production of Purple Sea Urchin Paracentrotus lividus in Portugal Ana Mendes, João Araújo, Florbela Soares, Narcisa Bandarra and Pedro Pousão-Ferreira FIGURE 1. Raceway tanks (left) and lanterns (right) used in acclimation and conditioning of purple sea urchin broodstock (Photo: João Araújo). FIGURE 2. Schematic of induced spawning technique of purple sea urchins by injection with 0.5 M KCl.