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Red sea urchins, Mesocentrotus franciscanus, have been commercially harvested in Oregon since 1986. Landing peaked in 1990, when more than 9 million pounds were landed. Since the boom then bust of this new fishery on a virgin stock, the past ~20 years have been characterized by rather stable landings of around a half million pounds per year (Figure 1). Red sea urchins are Oregon's most valuable dive fishery and the third most valuable shellfish fishery, distantly behind Dungeness crab and pink shrimp.
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| Figure 1. Oregon commercial red sea urchin landings, note the >9 million pound peak in 1990, but also the persistance of a robust (~500,000 lb/year) fishery over the past 20 years. |
Red sea urchins are harvested exclusively from kelp beds. 90% of Oregon's kelp beds are present south of Charleston, where about 90% of harvest occurs (Figure 2). By far the most important harvest areas are Oregon's two large offshore reefs; Port Orford reef just northwest of Port Orford, OR (~50% of harvest) and Rogue reef, just Northwest of Gold Beach, OR (~25% of harvest). Nearshore areas of Brookings, Port Orford, Charleston and Depoe Bay account for the remaining 25% of harvest.
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Figure 2. Key red sea urchin harvest areas in Oregon (kelp areas showen in green) |
