TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Penghu Fishery Research Center released 20,000 sea urchins into coastal waters on Tuesday (April 23).
The release of sea urchins is an attempt to restock the local population and provide adequate conservation resources to protect fishery stocks. Divers from the marine research center brought the sea urchins with an average length of 2 cm to deep waters for release.
Tripneustes gratilla sea urchin, also known as the “collector urchin,” is distributed across waters from northeastern Taiwan to Kenting, Penghu, Xiao Liuqiu, and Lanyu. This particular sea urchin inhabits waters as deep as 10 meters, feeding on seagrass and macroalgae.

According to Penghu Fishery Research Center, sea urchins are key components in ecosystems, maintaining the balance between corals and algae. Sea urchins are sought out by fishermen, who may deplete their stocks, removing an important link in the biological chain, per CNA.
For this reason, Penghu has regulated the harvesting of sea urchins since 2007, limiting their harvest from May 16 to August 31 each year. Furthermore, only sea urchins with a body length of 8 centimeters can be harvested.
Marine biologists warn that without artificial breeding and restocking, existing populations of sea urchins are no longer numerous enough to support adequate reproduction and growth. Thus, the depletion of wild sea urchin stocks has become a concern for conservationists.
The center has also been guiding the related aquaculture industry, providing education about seedlings, breeding, and feeding sea urchins. Ultimately, marine biologists hope that artificially bred sea urchins will be enough to meet market demand and reduce pressure on wild populations.