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California’s rampant sea urchin problem
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ni-kelp-forest
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But these vibrant little aliens – purple sea urchins, in actuality – have become a major headache for the Pacific west coast. Their population has exploded by 10,000% since 2014, with scientists blaming the decline of sea otter and starfish populations – two of the urchin’s natural predators.
Hundreds of millions of purple sea urchins now blanket the coast from Baja to Alaska, where they have been devouring the region’s vital kelp forests, doing untold damage to the marine ecosystem in the process.
In California, it is estimated that 95% of the kelp forests, which serve as both shelter and food to a wide range of marine life, has been decimated and replaced by so-called “urchin barrens” – vast carpets of spiked purple orbs along the ocean floor.
It shouldn’t have been a hard sell. Sea urchin, or uni in the sushi world, is considered a delicacy in the fine dining circles. “The two main descriptors I would use are sweet and briny, similar to an oyster, similar to a clam,” said culinary scientist Ali Bouzari. “They taste like the sea because they live in the sea. They’re sweet, umami and a little bit salty. The texture is very creamy. It’s very similar to room-temperature butter.”
During the pandemic, however, fine dining has been harder to come by. And the retail costs, which range from $9 to $12 per urchin at your local fishmonger, isn’t something every home cook can justify.
Sea urchins are essentially a ball of hard purple spikes containing five egg sacs, which is what we eat – in the culinary world, they’re described as the tongues, the roe, the uni.
They have no eyes or brain, but they do have mouths, which they use to suck up everything in their way, kelp or otherwise. Bouzari calls them the “Roombas of the ocean”.