The Gulf of Maine once supported North America’s 2nd largest sea urchin fishery. In 1992-93, Maine harvesters landed 17,690 tonnes of green sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis), and in the following season the fishery’s value hit $36 million, second only to lobster. About 2,700 licensed harvesters and hundreds of buyers, processors, and other workers were employed in the fishery.
The fishery came in response to an urchin population boom, and they were widely regarded by lobster fishermen as a pest to be eradicated. No regulations were put into effect until the mid-1990’s, but by then it was too late. Landings declined to about 3,000 tonnes by 2002-03 and to 235 tonnes in 2024. The collapse led harvesters, scientists, and managers to consider conservation hatcheries to rebuild or sustain the fishery. Around 1998, Robert Peacock and Hank Stence established a hatchery in Lubec Maine, and in 2001, Larry Harris of the University of Hampshire and urchin diver Chris Hill established a second hatchery In Portsmouth NH. Seed output from these hatcheries established rearing protocols and encouraged development of sea urchin aquaculture (echinoculture) in the Northeast.
In 2005, Harris and Jim Wadsworth, who exported live urchins to Japan, collaborated with the University of Maine Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research (CCAR) to test plastic mesh envelopes suspended from lines as a nursery system for juvenile urchin ‘seed.’ In 2009, CCAR established a hatchery and in the subsequent decade carried out research around urchin broodstock maturation, ranching, land-based culture, diets, and gonad enhancement. These projects showed that while echinoculture was technically feasible, several biological and market factors made it economically challenging. As of 2020, Ocean Resources was the only company in Maine growing urchins at a lease site.
Since 2020, there has been a remarkable turnaround in echinoculture activity in Maine and elsewhere in the Northeast US. Much of this can be attributed to a project sponsored by the Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center (NRAC) and led by Dr. Coleen Suckling of the University of Rhode Island, CCAR Director Steve Eddy, and University of Maine Sea Grant Senior Program Manager Dana Morse. The project funded seed production and a strategic outreach campaign that recruited and provided free seed to 12 new growers. Most of them integrated urchins with shellfish or seaweed, utilizing the same enclosures and lines. Several now have market size urchins and have expressed interest in obtaining more seed. Future directions potentially include using Japanese cage culture systems and/or adapting Korean abalone gear for urchins. A technology exchange trip to Japan planned for 2026 will undoubtedly lead to further innovation for US echinoculture participants.