Working to recover the ocean ecosystems that sea urchins gobbled


In partnership with the company Urchinomics, a lab in California is developing a type of feed that helps sea urchins captured in the wild grow so they can sell them for commercial purposes. Sea urchins have been ravaging bull kelp forests along the coasts and scientists are looking to sustainably control the urchin population. The algae-based feed that scientists produced helps the urchins grow and produce uni — the urchin’s edible gonads — which are sold to restaurants, and a test run of the product in Japan was well-received.

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