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Japanese shipping company NYK is investing in Urchinomics, a British-Irish venture which will feed up starving sea urchins so they can be sold for food – and also support biodiversity.
Kelp forests on the seabed are being eaten up by an overabundance of sea urchins. Kelp forests are “blue” carbon as they absorb and store CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and they also support marine biodiversity by providing a habitat for small fish and other aquatic life.
The lack of kelp food means that the sea urchins are not edible. Urchinomics will collect them, feed them on other natural food and then use the profits from sales of urchin (known as uni, a delicacy in Japan) to reinvest in collection of urchins but also restoration of the kelp forests.
A new job for the 21st century – urchin rancher.
Unidon photo By Totti – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68677193
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