Harvest method does not affect survival and condition during gonad enhancement of an overabundant sea urchin

Abstract

AEI Aquaculture Environment Interactions Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections AEI 11:143-148 (2019) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00305 Harvest method does not affect survival and condition during gonad enhancement of an overabundant sea urchin F. Warren-Myers1,2,*, S. E. Swearer2, D. S. Francis3, G. M. Turchini3, T. Dempster1 1Sustainable Aquaculture Laboratory - Temperate and Tropical (SALTT), School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia 2National Centre for Coasts and Climate (NCCC) and School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia 3School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia *Corresponding author: fletcher.warren@unimelb.edu.au ABSTRACT: Interest in sea urchin roe enhancement aquaculture is growing due to an increased global demand for high-quality roe that is suitable for export to international markets. Yet, fine-tuning of efficient collection methods and improved growing techniques are still key bottlenecks to industry success. Urchins suitable for roe enhancement are generally collected from rocky barrens where they occur in high densities. Few studies have investigated the efficiency of methods used to collect urchins from barrens or the associated short- and long-term handling effects due to collection methods. Here, we tested 2 methods to collect the purple sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma, a species that is highly abundant in barrens in temperate waters and which is a viable candidate for roe enhancement aquaculture. We assessed short- and long-term survival, external urchin condition and final gonad indices after 12 wk of roe enhancement. Divers using a 3-pronged hook and catch bag collected urchins 1.9 times faster (392 urchins h-1) than careful hand collection (207 urchins h-1). Collection method did not significantly influence mortality rate, external health or gonad indices after 12 wk of roe enhancement. Our results show that H. erythrogramma in barrens is robust to rapid mechanical collection by divers, which increases its suitability as a candidate capture-based aquaculture species. KEY WORDS: Urchin barrens · Gonad index · Collection rate · Urchin condition · Heliocidaris erythrogramma Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Warren-Myers F, Swearer SE, Francis DS, Turchini GM, Dempster T (2019) Harvest method does not affect survival and condition during gonad enhancement of an overabundant sea urchin. Aquacult Environ Interact 11:143-148. https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00305Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AEI Vol. 11. Online publication date: April 11, 2019 Print ISSN: 1869-215X; Online ISSN: 1869-7534 Copyright © 2019 Inter-Research.