The Effects of Environmental Factors and Husbandry Techniques on Roe Enhancement of the New Zealand Sea Urchin, Evechinus chloroticus
Authors:   , James Philip 
Published: November 2021

<p>The roe of sea urchins (Echinodermata: echinoidea) is a prized seafood in a number of countries around the world, including New  Zealand. Increasing fishing pressure on world sea urchin stocks has failed to meet demand. This has led to increasing worldwide interest in roe enhancement of sea urchins. In New Zealand kina (Evechinus chloroticus) have also been heavily fished. However, there are large numbers of poor quality (low gonad index or GI) kina found in kina barrens which are uneconomic to harvest due to low returns. The primary aim of this research was to identify the key holding and environmental conditions for roe enhancement of E. chloroticus to assist in the development of a roe enhancement industry for E. chloroticus to utilise this resource. A series of experiments testing the optimal holding conditions for E. chloroticus in both land- and sea-based holding systems showed that culture depth (3 and 6 m) and removal of the urchins from the water three times per week had no significant effect on gonad growth or urchin mortality. However, exposing E. chloroticus to increased water movement resulted in significantly greater gonad growth in 12 weeks. Increasing water movement is believed to increase the available dissolved oxygen and facilitate the removal of metabolites from around the urchins. Gonad development was not negatively impacted at the maximum stock density tested (6 kg urchin m-2 of internal surface area) and this density is recommended. There are significantly lower running and maintenance costs when E. chloroticus are enhanced in sea-based compared to land-based systems but a full economic analysis is required to assess which is likely to be the more economical option for future roe enhancement. A period of 9 to 12 weeks appears to be the optimal period for roe enhancement in terms of the maximum increase in GI in the shortest time period. Repeated experiments over a 12 month period showed that food availability was the primary driver of roe enhancement (i.e. increase in gonad size) in E. chloroticus. This is followed by seawater temperature, which drives much of the seasonal variation in the gonad size that is observed in wild urchins. This is likely to be due to increased food consumption at higher temperatures. The reproductive stage of E. chloroticus had very little effect on the increase in gonad size of enhanced urchins other than in autumn when gonad growth was slightly lower than in all other seasons. Optimal gonad growth in this study was obtained at 18oC, which was the highest temperature tested. Higher temperatures also resulted in an increase in the rate of progress of the gametogenic cycle of E. chloroticus whilst lower temperatures tended to slow the rate of progress. The effects of temperature on gonad growth (i.e. increased growth at higher temperatures) were consistent across seasons. Photoperiod had minimal effect on gonad growth and the reproductive stage of the urchins over periods of 12 weeks. Photoperiod may still affect gametogenesis of E. chloroticus over longer periods. Low GI kina appear to be capable of significantly larger increases in GI in 10-week periods than high GI kina, as a result of their higher tolerance to stress. This thesis has contributed to improving the technical and economic feasibility of roe enhancement of kina (E. chloroticus) in New Zealand.</p>