Sea urchin aquaculture is increasingly crucial as coastal ecosystems face degradation, especially with the alarming disappearance of seaweed beds leading to barren rocky shores.

One of the primary concerns is the overpopulation of sea urchins, which consume vast amounts of seaweed, hindering the natural recovery of marine habitats.

Although removal programs are implemented in several regions, many harvested sea urchins remain underdeveloped due to food scarcity and are often discarded.

Known as uni, these sea urchins are a delicacy in Japan and surrounding Asian countries. However, urban pollution adversely affects their quality, complicating retrieval efforts and making them less commercially viable.

This scenario not only affects sea urchin farming but also poses challenges for environmental restoration initiatives.

Innovative Solutions: The UNI-VERSE System

Responding to these challenges, sustainable seafood company Kita-Sanriku Factory has rebranded underdeveloped sea urchins as a recoverable resource.

They developed the UNI-VERSE system, a regenerative aquaculture technology designed to rehabilitate nutritionally depleted sea urchins.

This system retrieves sea urchins and places them in a controlled environment where targeted feeding and husbandry protocols restore them to commercial quality in just two months.

Additionally, this removal method supports marine environmental restoration efforts, contributing positively to local ecosystems.

Developed over seven years in partnership with Hokkaido University, the UNI-VERSE system represents a significant shift towards sustainable practices in aquaculture.

Regenerative urchin farming

This transformative model not only alters the financial narrative surrounding sea urchins—turning a disposal cost into a profitable enterprise—but also enhances the taste and texture to rival wild-caught products.

Kita-Sanriku Factory indicates that expanding into international markets, including Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, is a central component of its growth strategy.

In December 2024, the company made history by becoming the first in Japan to obtain EU HACCP certification for sea urchins, successfully navigating a significant regulatory barrier for European exports.

The newly completed facility was recently unveiled in Hirono Town, designed to optimize rearing conditions and refine operational protocols for standardizing regenerative sea urchin aquaculture on a larger scale.

The first phase of this initiative aims to generate critical data and management frameworks to facilitate replication of the system across Japan and potentially internationally.

As a demonstration and testing site, this facility seeks to validate and standardize production processes ahead of a full-scale commercial operation.

Plans are already in motion for facility expansion in the upcoming fiscal year, with an annual production target set at 200 tonnes.

The Kita-Sanriku Factory collaborates closely with a network of industry, academic, and public-sector partners, including Yanmar Holdings, which has been instrumental since April 2025.

Their collective efforts focus on enhancing aquaculture equipment and technologies aimed at creating stable rearing environments while reducing labor intensity, paving the way for a sustainable future in sea urchin farming.