The Species
Collector urchin is indigenous to Seychelles waters and is permitted for aquaculture production. The species has a high market value. The demand for sea urchins cannot be met from capture fisheries. Sea urchin farming technologies are well researched and developed, and feeds have been formulated to produce high gonad yield. The collector urchin is fast growing and can reach market size in under a year, and under optimal farming conditions the roe can make up 24% of total body mass. It is well suited to land-based rearing as well as for sea-based grow out practices.
Environmental and Oceanographic Conditions
Seychelles waters offer optimum environmental conditions for the survival and growth of ranched collector urchins.
Seychelles waters are also well suited to sea-based cage culture of finfish species, and longline culture of pearls, due to ideal oceanographic conditions, which allows for integrated multi-tropic aquaculture (IMTA). The substrate under sea cages and longlines serves as an ideal location for ranching of urchins as excess organic matter from these operations (such as faeces and uneaten food) can provide a nutrient-rich environment for high growth and survival rates in urchins. Collector urchin farming also offers an ecological advantage to the region; sea urchins are benthic grazers and maintain ecological balance, they can thus offer bioremediation of the sediments below cages longlines, improving the sustainability of sea-based farming.
Access to Markets
Sea urchin export requires a high level of logistical infrastructure, as high-quality fresh products should reach export markets within seven days of harvesting. Seychelles’ level of transport infrastructure and its location in the middle of the western Indian Ocean makes it well-suited to aquaculture production for global markets. Seychelles has access to markets in Europe, the USA and Asia, via air and sea transport, and is able to receive imports of supplies, such technical equipment, from high-quality suppliers around the world. It also has access to local markets as products can be transported within and between islands.