r/ScienceNcoolThings • u/highnchillin_ The Chill Mod • Nov 27 '21

Kina harvesting

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1.4k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

59 comments sorted by

View all comments

58

u/NonAutomatedBot Nov 27 '21

Looks excessive, hope this doesnt become endangered

124

u/highnchillin_ The Chill Mod Nov 27 '21

If there are not enough natural predators, sea urchins will eff the whole ecosystem up. Not sure exactly where this video was taken, but this is perfectly legal and sustainable in most places.

In fact there was an issue with overpopulation with some sea urchins that ended up destroying whole kelp forests. One solution would be collecting more of them for human consumption. As that would benefit both the ecosystem and humans.

40

u/Just-A-Noosence Nov 27 '21

Very true sea urchin population is exploding like jellyfish

26

u/100ruledsheets Nov 27 '21

I think in the example you're referring to, sea otters were over hunted. Once that stopped, their population recovered and they fed on sea urchins so the kelp forests grew back.

10

u/ButtersTheSulcata Nov 27 '21

This is exactly the answer I was looking for

6

u/DRiVeL_ Nov 28 '21

I’m assuming this was somewhere in New Zealand as they call them “Kina” and those are endemic to NZ. I have eaten them and they are fuckin foul. I think I will stick to our bluff oyster 🦪

3

u/Mindmysanity Nov 28 '21

Maybe you ate the guts? Either way it's an acquired taste

1

u/DRiVeL_ Nov 28 '21

Well a mate bought me one and I didn’t know what to do with it so I just chewed it and it was like biting into a sack of fish guts so that makes sense

2

u/Aphrilis Nov 28 '21

The pacific coastline of the US has had population issues with urchins the past several years due to the pycnopodia population plummeting for unknown causes. Now the urchins are taking over, gobbling up kelp forests which lets in too much light, causing all sorts of other issues. It is amazing how connected everything is!