Sea urchin aquaculture operates against the backdrop of wider coastal degradation, particularly the spread of barren rocky shores where seaweed beds are disappearing.
The overpopulation of sea urchins is a key concern, as they consume large volumes of seaweed and prevent natural recovery of the marine ecosystem.
Removal programmes are carried out in many regions, however, most of the harvested sea urchins are poorly developed because of food scarcity and mostly discarded.
Sea urchins – or uni – are a priced delicacy in Japan and surrounding Asian countries. However, the quality of the urban impacts commercial value, making the effort to retrieve them even more costly and unproductive.
Ultimately, this issue not just impacts sea urchin farming but environmental restoration efforts.
Sustainable seafood company Kita-Sanriku Factory reframed the underdeveloped sea urchins as a recoverable resource.
It developed the UNI-VERSE system, regenerative aquaculture technology that rehabilitates nutritionally depleted sea urchins.
By retrieving and placing them in this controlled environment with targeted feeding and husbandry protocols, the system restores the urchin to commercial quality in approximately two months.
At the same time, removing the sea urchins from the wild encourages the restoration of the marine environment.
The UNI-VERSE system was developed over seven year with Hokkaido University.
Regenerative urchin farming
This regenerative model represents a significant value shift. Sea urchins that previously cost money to dispose of can be converted into premium products.
The company said the sea urchins produced through the system achieve a taste and texture close to wild-caught product, supporting their positioning in high-end export markets.
According to the company, export growth was central to its strategy. It plans to supply regenerated sea urchins to markets such as Europe, North America, the Middle East and South East Asia.
In December 2024, the company became the first in Japan to obtain EU HACCP certification for sea urchins, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for European exports.
The newly completed facility was unveiled on February 5 in Hirono Town.
It was designed to establish optimal rearing conditions and refine operational protocols, with the aim of standardising regenerative sea urchin aquaculture at scale.
According to the company, this first phase will generate the data and management frameworks required to replicate the system elsewhere in Japan and potentially overseas.
Designed as a demonstration and testing site, the facility is intended to validate and standardise production processes before the project expands into full-scale commercial operation.
The site will be expanded over the next fiscal year to improve the capacity and productivity. Once complete, the facility is expected to have a production target of 200 tonnes annually.
Kita-Sanriku Factory is supported by a network of industry, academic and public-sector partnerships, including key collaborator Yanmar Holdings.
The latter has been working with Kita-Sanriku Factory on this project since April 2025. It brings in its expertise in aquaculture equipment, including automated tank-cleaning systems and water-quality management technologies
The technologies developed aim to stable rearing environments and reducing labour intensity.
