Image of sea urchin after farming. Empty sea urchins - that are preventing kelp forests from growing - are harvested from the sea bed and put into Urchinomics' land-based recirculating systems to turn them into premium sea urchin roe in 6 to 12 weeks.
Photo: Urchinomics.
Urchinomics BV and its Japanese subsidiary Uninomics Co. Ltd., and Hokkaido Electric Power Co. have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly consider a sea urchin farming business to address the problem of rocky shores in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's main islands.
Synergies between the two companies seem obvious since, while Urchinomics has the technology to raise sea urchins in a short period, the electric company has developed its own "low-carbon algae reef" as well as an "automatic sea urchin capture device."
Seaweed beds foster a rich marine ecosystem and protect biodiversity, but they are also a source of carbon dioxide absorption and storage through blue carbon, that is, the carbon absorbed and stored by marine ecosystems such as seaweed/seagrass beds, mangrove forests, and tidal flats.
In addition to rising seawater temperatures and lack of nutrients, in recent years seaweed beds have continued to decline in Japan due to sea denudation nationwide, because of factors such as sea urchins overeating seaweed beds, and a similar situation is occurring in the coastal areas of Hokkaido. Therefore, restoring seaweed beds in turn helps to restore marine resources and prevent global warming.
An important initiative for an area that was one of the hardest hit by the bans that China and Hong Kong imposed on Japanese seafood from the prefectures near the Fukushima accident. Fish products exported from Hokkaido to mainland China accounted for about 64% of the prefecture's seafood exports, amounting to about 83.3 billion yen in 2022.
Seaweed disappeared due to rock formation coastal seabed.
Photo: Urchinomics.
Urchinomics is a pioneering restorative aquaculture company that aims to turn ecologically destructive sea urchins into high-value seafood products. Its circular business model consists of buying, breeding, and selling sea urchins that live in rocky areas, and it has the technology to breed those sea urchins in a short time. A model that has even been awarded an official recommendation from UNESCO's United Nations Decade of Marine Science for Sustainable Development.
For its part, Hokkaido Electric Power has developed its own "low-carbon algae reef" - a block submerged in the sea that has been processed to facilitate algae attachment and growth and uses biomass combustion ash as part of the material that has the effect of promoting seaweed growth - as well as an "automatic sea urchin capture device" - a cage-shaped trap that sinks to the bottom of the ocean, with a structure that allows sea urchins to enter but prevents them from leaving -. In addition, it is also promoting a blue carbon project aimed at regenerating seagrass meadows at multiple sites in Hokkaido.
"Utilizing these technologies and know-how, and collaborating with Uninomics, we will move forward with new initiatives aimed at eliminating rocky shores," the electric company claimed in the joint release in which the two companies announced their partnership. "We will preserve the marine environment and revitalize local fisheries while bringing in industry and speciality products," Urchinomics added.
Image of empty sea urchins before farming.
Photo: Urchinomics.
"Going forward, based on this agreement, both companies will consider business models that will contribute to the revitalization of the business area and local economy in order to implement a sea urchin farming business in Hokkaido, with the aim of solving social issues and realizing a zero-carbon Hokkaido," the announcement continued.
Shortly after the announcement, Perry Bevin, CEO of Urchinomics - who took over from founder Brian Tsuyoshi Takeda last summer - also commented on the deal on his LinkedIn profile. "At Urchinomics, we're dedicated to harnessing technology for environmental conservation. This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to sustainability and community empowerment. Together, we're building a brighter, greener future," he said.
This is Urchinomics' second project in Japan, following its urchin ranching at a commercial scale in Ōita. The company has other commercial sites in Norway, Canada, and the United States, as well as an ongoing collaborative project in New Zealand, Kinanomics, which, like this one in Hokkaido, aims to restore oceans and revitalize the seafood market, in that case, by creating a high-value aquaculture industry from kinas, a type of malnourished sea urchin.
