253
4.2.1.2 Distribution of Sea Urchins
Sea urchins are widely distributed in polar, temperate, and tropical oceans, where
they are conspicuous members of most benthic marine communities. They play an
important ecological role as herbivorous grazers, and their ability to alter algal community states has made them the subject of numerous ecological studies. There are
about 850 living species of sea urchins, and at least 17 of these are commercially
valued as food (Harris and Eddy 2015).
4.2.1.3 Production and Trade of Sea Urchins
At first glance, the hard shell and long spines of sea urchins give the impression that
they are not a creature that people will be overly interested in eating. Whereas, sea
urchin or urchin roe is an important culinary taste and flavour in many European
countries, Chile, North America, Asia and especially Japan, which make up about
90% of the worldwide demand (Sun and Chiang 2015). The market for sea urchins
is very traditional with Japan consuming about 80–90% of the total current global
supply. There is a domestic market in many sea urchins harvesting countries, especially in Chile, New Zealand, and the Philippines. In Europe, the market is also
traditional and is mainly in continental Europe and in the Mediterranean countries,
Italy, France, and Spain (Stefansson et al. 2017). In a report on the global marketing
of sea urchins prepared by Stefansson et al. (2017), it has been reported that the
global annual market demand for sea urchins can be estimated at 60,000–70,000
tons and it was difficult to obtain reliable figures on the size of the global market
based on harvest figures reported by FAO in 2014. They also reported that it is difficult to determine the world harvest volume of sea urchins, especially in countries
producing before the 1980s, since they were transmitted to FAO below estimates.
Other echinoderms are sometimes collected with sea urchin data and FAO cannot
easily filter differences.
About half of the global harvest consists of Chilean sea urchins. Russia, Japan,
the United States and Canada are other main harvesters. Strongylocentrotus intermedius, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, and Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis
are mainly harvested species (Sun and Chiang 2015).
In most aquatic species, the term roe applies only to eggs, but in the case of sea
urchins, roe refers to both male and female gonads. Urchin roe, or uni, is said by
many to be an acquired taste. The texture is slimy, and the sweet-salty combination
is rather unusual for seafood. Over time, however, consumers have spread the word
about their fondness for urchin. In Norway, a sea urchin entrepreneur attempted to
increase local demand by describing the taste as similar to that of Russian caviar.
The world’s largest wholesale sea urchin market is in Japan. As Japanese urchin
stocks were exploited and overfished, leading to the collapse of native stocks in the
early 1970s, the continued growth of uni consumption in Japan was increasingly
met by other countries. Generally, Japanese domestic uni auctioned is considered to
be of higher quality than imports, and the freshest urchin with the best uni flavour
4.2 Sea Urchin
4.2.1.2 Distribution of Sea Urchins
Sea urchins are widely distributed in polar, temperate, and tropical oceans, where
they are conspicuous members of most benthic marine communities. They play an
important ecological role as herbivorous grazers, and their ability to alter algal community states has made them the subject of numerous ecological studies. There are
about 850 living species of sea urchins, and at least 17 of these are commercially
valued as food (Harris and Eddy 2015).
4.2.1.3 Production and Trade of Sea Urchins
At first glance, the hard shell and long spines of sea urchins give the impression that
they are not a creature that people will be overly interested in eating. Whereas, sea
urchin or urchin roe is an important culinary taste and flavour in many European
countries, Chile, North America, Asia and especially Japan, which make up about
90% of the worldwide demand (Sun and Chiang 2015). The market for sea urchins
is very traditional with Japan consuming about 80–90% of the total current global
supply. There is a domestic market in many sea urchins harvesting countries, especially in Chile, New Zealand, and the Philippines. In Europe, the market is also
traditional and is mainly in continental Europe and in the Mediterranean countries,
Italy, France, and Spain (Stefansson et al. 2017). In a report on the global marketing
of sea urchins prepared by Stefansson et al. (2017), it has been reported that the
global annual market demand for sea urchins can be estimated at 60,000–70,000
tons and it was difficult to obtain reliable figures on the size of the global market
based on harvest figures reported by FAO in 2014. They also reported that it is difficult to determine the world harvest volume of sea urchins, especially in countries
producing before the 1980s, since they were transmitted to FAO below estimates.
Other echinoderms are sometimes collected with sea urchin data and FAO cannot
easily filter differences.
About half of the global harvest consists of Chilean sea urchins. Russia, Japan,
the United States and Canada are other main harvesters. Strongylocentrotus intermedius, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, and Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis
are mainly harvested species (Sun and Chiang 2015).
In most aquatic species, the term roe applies only to eggs, but in the case of sea
urchins, roe refers to both male and female gonads. Urchin roe, or uni, is said by
many to be an acquired taste. The texture is slimy, and the sweet-salty combination
is rather unusual for seafood. Over time, however, consumers have spread the word
about their fondness for urchin. In Norway, a sea urchin entrepreneur attempted to
increase local demand by describing the taste as similar to that of Russian caviar.
The world’s largest wholesale sea urchin market is in Japan. As Japanese urchin
stocks were exploited and overfished, leading to the collapse of native stocks in the
early 1970s, the continued growth of uni consumption in Japan was increasingly
met by other countries. Generally, Japanese domestic uni auctioned is considered to
be of higher quality than imports, and the freshest urchin with the best uni flavour
4.2 Sea Urchin