Maine’s once-booming sea urchin fishery has struggled for decades with low wild populations and limited success scaling aquaculture, leaving researchers, harvesters and growers searching for a more sustainable path forward.
Now, the University of Maine is helping lead an effort to find answers.
This week, a delegation organized by Maine Sea Grant and University of Maine Cooperative Extension will travel to Hokkaido, Japan, to study advanced sea urchin farming techniques and explore how they could be adapted to strengthen Maine’s industry.
Hugh Cowperthwaite of Coastal Enterprises, Inc., who helped coordinate the trip, said the group is eager to learn from Japan’s diverse approaches to harvesting and aquaculture.
“We’re excited to learn from the Japanese about the many different forms of their sea urchin fishery. They range from open water wild harvest to bottom leasing, confined structures and submerged cage culture,” Cowperthwaite said. “It will be fascinating to understand how these practices developed and what we can implement in Maine.”
The trip builds on a long history of collaboration between Maine and Japan’s marine industries, particularly in scallops, and reflects growing momentum around aquaculture innovation at UMaine. With renewed interest from industry, researchers and regulators, the effort aims to strengthen both farmed production and the wild harvest.
Maine’s sea urchin fishery expanded rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s, when global markets embraced the state’s high-quality roe, known as uni. Since then, declining populations have limited the fishery and underscored the need for new approaches. While urchins can be raised to market size, achieving profitability at scale remains a challenge.
Supported by the National Sea Grant Program, the delegation will spend a week visiting hatcheries, farms, processors and research facilities across Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island.
Participants include representatives from across and beyond Maine’s marine economy, including the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the University of Maine Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research, University of Rhode Island and private aquaculture companies.
“As a fisheries scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, I’m excited to learn from Japan’s long experience with sea urchin fisheries and aquaculture,” said Elijah Bates of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. “I’m especially interested in what ideas might help support the long-term sustainability of Maine’s urchin resource.”
For Maine growers, the trip is also an opportunity to bring new ideas back to their operations. Michael Scannell of Saco Bay Sea Farms said he is particularly interested in how Japan integrates seaweed and urchin production.
“As the founder and CEO of Saco Bay Sea Farms, I’m excited for the opportunity to learn from Japan’s long history of sea urchin aquaculture and enhancement,” Scannell said. “We’re particularly interested in the seaweed-to-urchin pipeline and how urchins can become a viable emerging crop in Maine. I’m hopeful what we learn in Hokkaido will help inform future research and development here.”
Contact: Dana Morse dana.morse@maine.edu
