Very informative. Can you think of any other ways we can help to get kelp beds back without being a diver? Not confident enough as a swimmer to go out diving
Absolutely! Non-divers can try coastal foraging at low tides (-1.0 or lower) or anyone can vote with their wallets! What I mean is that if we all demand that our local restaurants only serve purple sea urchin or we will not buy uni when we go out, there will be an increased commercial demand for this species and that will mean more will be taken out of the water every day to supply the market. Money talks. Right now, there is no commercial harvest for purple urchin only because the red urchin have larger reproductive organs so they fetch a higher market price. The purple urchins taste better (sweeter) than reds, but they are smaller. If we insist that we will only pay for purple urchin then we can have a very positive impact on the local environment by "voting with our wallets!" Great question!
Please read lord jesus's bible over lord satens for once and you will see these creatures as you call them evil ungodlike word a.k.a mammal other animals or fish are not fit for consumption because they make our bodies cancerous. Chapter Leviticus of God's word Hebrew texts may give you greater insights as to how to be well-er. Also lord jesus teaches to show mercy over kindness to a few fellows such as yourselfs
The purple urchin have become so pervasive and flourishing that there are plenty of places VERY close to shore along the coast you can forage for them without a negative or low tide. I've foraged limits in 15 minutes easy.
@@joeynelson1609 15mins? wow. I'm a few hours from the coast so I can't go that often but would love to find a spot to give them a try. Especially if they are as pervasive as you say.
The West coast should copy how the gulf coast does to cull their lionfish problem. Establish a market, have dive clubs do derbies and contests, no catch limits. If you want to start a business: you and a couple buddies dive and harvest the purples, harvest the uni, sell to local markets and grind the exoskeletons to make fertilizer or chicken feed. You and Taku could collab and make a documentary. But if fisherman continue doing videos foraging and cooking them, its a great way to spread the info and get people to do it.
Yup! Taku and I were just talking about some of these ideas a few days ago! I would love to see some commercial incentive for harvesting them and I would love to see Cal DFW approve some emergency purple urchin commercial permits to help with the issue. I am not sure if that is on their radar yet though.
sunflower stars are now critically endangered, used to be estimated billions of them. we really need those guys back to help with the urchin population, it surprises me more is not being done to hatchery raise sunflower stars and release them. the wasting disease is so unfortunate
I hear you! Oregon State University is working on it but I wish many other universities and private donors could collaborate to make it a more widespread program!
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 that's awesome to hear OSU is getting on board, I also looked into it and found out Washington university at the Friday harbor lab has a breeding program. fingers crossed for them. and cool video bro
As a surfer I try and get out the there regularly to remove as many of those spiny punks whenever I can. Usually eat a few with rice while I'm at it, too.
There shouldn’t be a cap or daily bag limit of purple sea urchin for recreational fishing. Only allowed 35 per day per California Regulation (29.06. General). It doesn’t make sense to limit the take if they’re causing problems. Increase the daily bag limit at least, or for recreational take, no need to require fishing license. Great video and very informative. Uni salsa looks delish😋
Loved the content! The comparison of how the kelp forrest was and its current state is eye opening. You really did a great job connecting the dots on the kelp forrest decline. Your presentation kept me hooked. Keep creating this kind of content.
Great intro and information Dr.K on what has happened to our Kelp beds. On the bright side we can hope the "Giant Kelp Restoration Project" down in Monterey is making good to great progress. Thanks again for keeping us informed-
Not only should there not be a harvest limit. They ought to have a bounty on purple sea urchin where cdfw pays anyone brings them in. A rate that would make a dent would be perhaps, $50 per 40 gallons. Rate could be adjusted for sustainability and expense.
I don’t think that this is legal or the right way to do it. The fact is that these urchins are a native species and you can’t put a bounty on a native species. They should fix the problem by reintroducing their actual natural predator, which is sea lions and increasing sea lion population. In addition, sea kelp is a plant. Killing of native animals in order to bring back a plant, is silly. Before the issue, these kelp beds houses sea stars, urchin. With the death of sea stars this caused imbalance to system and now sea urchin population is exploding.
This series makes me want to go to the coast and rent some free diving equipment for a day or two. I used to free dive in the Gulf of Mexico from Florida. Back when I was in middle school during spring break my grandpa used to buy plane tickets for us to come visit. He passed away when I was in high school. When ever we went to the beach I would go out swimming for a couple hours. I only had/used a snorkel tho, no flippers or dive belt.
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 I've always lived in Oregon, we have the purple urchin up here too. I'm currently living in Central Oregon. I was diving in Florida back in 2004-2007. I'm sure it's ruined out there too. I saw some crazy cool stuff. I had a 4 foot bull shark swim within a foot of me, it probably smelled my fish.
Hey Kevin. It’s me Tao. I met you at Fort Bragg yesterday. You gave me some tips about using squid 🦑 for catching lings. I found out about this topic on sea urchins invading California through a food docu. I think it’s mostly the purple/pink urchins that outnumbered the reds who are prized for their gonads. I heard that commercialers who imports tons to Japan skip them bc they produce very little gonads. I never ate sea urchins before, gonna start trying to aid in the help of their population control. If I’m not wrong. Kelps produce more than 60% of our planets oxygens. We need to help them.
Tao! Nice meeting you! In my opinion the purple urchin has sweeter uni than the red urchin so that is one more reason to go for them. You are absolutely correct that kelp produces a ton of oxygen and sequesters carbon so we need to do everything we can to bring back the kelp beds!
I wish I had gotten a chance to dive before all the kelp was gone. Luckily there's a small patch near me, but nothing quite like Ocean cove in those clips. Great channel, glad I found it!.
Another great video, I'm very appreciative of you sharing the knowledge about our urchin over population. I hope one day our waters return to some sort of normalcy.
Awesome video Kevin !! I really enjoy your diving expeditions they are so much fun and to see what's under all that water is so cool. I always learn something new, when I spend time with you, and I appreciate that. glad you were not by yourself, that Uni bowl looked delicious fresh and crisp . Can't wait for the next one. 🥰🎣🌿✌
Great video Doc. Two questions: 1)11:59 you mention if foraging, its 35 per day, but a different metric if free/scuba diving. If you are free/SCUBA diving FOR urchin, why is that not considered foraging and subject to the higher limit? 2) if the purple sea urchin are so bad, why were/did/do the regulatory (state or federal) not eliminate the daily bag limit, or even offer a bounty for them? Heck, why not just ask divers to crush them while out there? I'm very interested in this.
Brother.....I'm just North of you , up here in Northern Oregon. Only started free diving a few years ago ( switching to Hookah this year ). I have seen some of these purple Urchins , but not any where near the scale in your video. This is something that the states Fish & Wildlife need to address , and quick! They need to up the limit to infinity on these things until we get this under control. Love your channel dude , and hope to dive with you one day.
I am glad you have not seen too many up there yet! I think the next couple of years will see many management changes. I just got back from a festival my friend organized to bring awareness to the issues. The winds of change are flowing now! Thanks for watching!
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 Unfortunately , I think you are 100% correct. Animals are migrating North. Just 3 years ago I caught my first ever California Brown crab up here in Tillamook off the Barview jetty. Never seen them this far North , and I caught about a dozen of them! I didn't mind so much , as they were super tasty , but it makes me wonder what else is moving up this way.
Ok…so many things on this video… Love it and just in my short 2 years of diving I have seen how bad this is getting in Southern California, but also what happens when you clear urchins out at some spots!!! Kelp grows fast and can easily reforest quickly if you take care of the urchins. I have buddies that never ate Uni or scallops in the long times that they have been spearfishing. I grabbed some for them on a boat dive last year and every single one of them was blown away by both and just amazed how sweet both were. The orange line…that was my first from SpearAmerica because it was cheap…OMG, not fun by any way shape or form…loves to get tangled on itself, on kelp, on reef, on you!!! Uni salsa!!! Going to try that!!!!
Dr. Kev we love your videos you are the man! I’m headed to Bodega bay from Reno next month. I’ll be passing through Sacramento. I need to get a Dive hood I remember you had a favorite Dive shop there I was hoping you might be able to give me the name of that shop. Thank you so much keep up the great work can’t wait to get some of my own urchent
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 thank you so much Dr. Kev I will definitely Lee mention your name and I appreciate you helping me get hooked up with this dive shop. What’s funny is I’m from Reno and I ordered a spare gun from the same shop. I said they only take walk-ins by appointment, which I will do. I’m starting out with a Scorpia we’re going to try to get a guide from you for some mushroom foraging. Hopefully you have the time and thank you so much my family and I learn from you the time take care.
I feel your pain! Hopefully the Sea Urchin Festival in Mendocino helps spread interest this year and we can get the masses to help make a difference by foraging those purple devils!
They are a native species but acting like invasives in some places. In many places in CA purple urchins are in balance and are no issue. In some places like Sonoma Coast and North they are a real problem now. Not exactly sure why there is a bag limit in those places but a quick search of Cal DFW website will show you numerous coves currently being used for culling experiments where there is no bag limit. 40 gallons for divers in Sonoma County and north may as well be no limit as that is a ton of sea urchin for anyone to haul out. But 35 per person per day for foot-based foragers working on the North Coast where the overpopulation issues are very real does seem a bit odd. I would also be interested to hear if anyone can chime in about that.
This is awesome. I think more people need to turn their attention to the oceans. The great barrier reef has been dieing for years,Mass extinctions, and all sorts of craziness. Without the ocean the whole world dies.
Thanks for watching! I agree that we cannot afford to overlook what is happening in our oceans. Think about the massive kelp forests off of our coast reducing by over 90% in the last decade due to sea urchin overgrazing! Kelp/seaweed and marine algae make a ton of oxygen for our planet and sequester carbon. If we can convince everyone to get out and harvest their own uni/sea urchin or to only buy purple sea urchin (the problem species) when at restaurants I think we can help out a lot.
I am hoping that we can start a captive breeding program for sunflower stars that have a mutation/resistance to the wasting syndrome but honestly I do not know if any have yet been found that have such a mutation. Theoretically it is possible though.
Thanks for watching! I would definitely appreciate it if you would share this vid with folks that you feel would like to stay informed on our current kelp forest health.
Thanks for watching! I appreciate that Jun. I feel like this situation affects all of us so I really wanted you all to see it first hand from an underwater perspective.
Great question! You are allowed 35 per day unless you are diving in certain counties which allow you to take 40 gallons. This would be the daily bag limit that you are allowed to have on you while foraging. However, you could make it a three day weekend outing and take your daily bag limit back to camp each day. This then would be what you have in possession as you leave your camp and travel home. According to the regulations as of 2023 there is no possession limit.
Possibly, but every time that wildlife officers bring in non-native species in to deal with situations they end up bringing their own diseases and other massive environmental impacts. The mongoose in Jamaica is a prime example.
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 yeah i guessed as much, was thinking if the species is closely related to the local one the potential problems would be less severe
I can’t help but think that you are diving in white shark hunting grounds. Maybe not as much with the kelp forest gone, but there were still seals around.
Really enjoyed this episode and had been actually wanting to get into doing exactly this sort of thing this year after seeing a video on the explosion at casper cove. How do I contact you to hear more about your guide services?
Glad to hear that! You can email me at catchncookca@gmail for details on guided freedive spearfishing, coastal foraging, survival skills, mushroom identification courses, etc.
Great video Kevin. I'm trying to get into free diving and harvest sea urchins. Could you recommend some spots in Sonoma county? What type of wet suit should I choose?
Thanks! You can grab urchins at Fort Ross which tends to be pretty safe compared to the open coast though it can also get very rough so be sure you plan accordingly and go with a diver with a good amount of experience (the Sonoma Coast is a lot rougher than Monterey or SoCal for instance). As for wetsuits, you want open-cell and 7mm thick. There are a number of decent companies that make good ones. I recommend elios sub suits but DM me for more info.
How there is a limit to purple sea urchins make any sense. They are very highly prized in Japanese food. It should be a free for all until the population is under control.
Many people have asked this but urchins are capable of slowing their metabolism so much they can wait for a very long time without food and have even been known to reproduce under starvation conditions. It would be great if they did simply die off after eating off their own food supply, but I think we have to take a more proactive approach or they will likely repopulate the same reef as soon as the kelp starts coming back (with no sun stars left to prey upon them). I say, eat as many as you can and forage for them often!
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 Very good to know. I've never had uni, but it's definitely on the list when I get out there! Do you know of any ways to help bring back the sun star?
I was at the Oregon coast last spring, micro fishing in a large tidepool with my kids. My son found a purple sea urchin in a nearby pool so we cracked it open. It was great and I'll be trying to do this more in the future.
I live on the Washington coast and have never seen an urchin here I would love to try them but none here if you don’t mind telling where abouts in Oregon did you find them
@@heathwilson6366 I could give you a location, but then it would fish out pretty quick. Look for rocky headlands where tide pools are exposed along with macro algae . This includes bull kelp off shore along with palm kept or sea grasses on the rocks.
@@heathwilson6366 be happy that they're hard to find up there. I live in Oregon and my regular spots for fishing / clamming / crabbing are in the Northern part of the Oregon Coast and there are not as many urchin here. The further South you get the higher the population explosion. I saw plenty in tidepool areas south of Newport. They're abundant in Port Orford and Bandon.
@@hedoesthingspdx thanks for the info I’ll head over that way sometime I just wanna give them a try well my grandson and I do hopefully they taste good so I can help get rid of some
I had no idea about the loss of the kelp or seaweed. As a kid in the early 60s I did a bit of free diving and spearfishing. Plenty of kelp then. As a surf bum I often discovered the urchins when I had to walk across the rocks. I know a few people that enjoy eating them, I just don't happen to be one of them. Is there really anything we can do to get the kelp back or is it out of human hands?
I think with no other natural urchin predator around anymore, the ball just landed in our court. It is up to humans to step up and help the sea this time! Luckily, like you said, a lot of people do enjoy urchin so there is incentive to at least bring some home for your friends even if you yourself do not happen to be an urchin lover. Crazy times though huh?
Marc, as long as you are not in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) or a State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) that specifically prohibits the take of urchin you should be fine. Look for areas of rocky reef that say shallow way off shore. At low tide these areas should be covered with them. Good luck!
In New Zealand people get paid by department of conservation to collect them to keep them under control. They should be turned into food. Or garden fertiliser.
I've seen so many videos stating how purple urchin are a problem. What happens if you remove them all? In combination of warmer waters does another imbalance happen? Also if it's so bad why isn't there just a simple commercial solution like for every 100lbs of urchins harvested get rewarded $1000? May be not the best example but just don't think the incentives are in place to solve the problem so maybe it's not as simple as purple urchins need to go?
Gary, I really wish there was more commercial incentive! As of now, there are captive breeding programs attempting to reintroduce the sun star. If the sea surface temperatures are lower now, then maybe sea star wasting syndrome will stop spreading. However, I am worried that without finding sun stars with a genetic mutation/resistance to the disease we may simply reintroduce them and see them die off again. At least marine biologists are trying at this point but considering that this in unprecedented in the historic record in North America, it may take some time for a solution to be developed. In the meantime, if sea urchins are removed seaweed seems to come back and that provides refuge and food for fish and other species of shellfish (including abalone). For now, the best thing we sport-harvesters can do is to take our limits of purple urchin whenever possible (and where it is legal)!
Thank you for reviewing why purple urchins can be taken in large qty. I've been gathering purple urchins when I find an aggregation, but I'm kind of at a loss for how to dispose of them. Any ideas?
It is illegal to take with intent to waste so you will have to come up with something to do with them. You could try pulverizing to use as fertilizer, or slow-simmering to remove spines to make tea lights. I will do this in the near future in a vid.
To clarify, the daily bag limit is still 35 per person per day for purple urchins if foraging on foot. When diving in Sonoma County, Mendocino County or Humboldt County the daily bag limit for purple urchin is 40 gallons as of 2023.
I like the urchin-for-fertilizer idea! It is something I was wondering about for a long time. Pretty sure it would not be legal to relocate them within MPA's but I am hoping Cal DFW implements some new regulations soon to make it even easier to make a difference.
Hi Kevin, I just noticed a Notification from your channel asking me to reply to a text in order to collect a gift . It looked suspicious, especially asking me to reply via tex to a phone number with a Bridgeport, Connecticut area code (203). Just want to make you aware of this.
Thank you Ricardo. THAT IS A SCAM! I have reported it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Please report it on your end as well so that RUclips takes it seriously. -Cheers
I am for it eventually but since otters practice an optimal foraging strategy if they were reintroduced right now they would eat the remaining ablone first, then the red urchin and only after that would they focus on purple urchin. At the moment I think that would exacerbate the problem.
It is possible as long as we could be sure that they were not carrying something that could kill other sea life. Transplanted South African ablone brought to an abalone farm in southern CA ended up introducing abalone Withering Foot Syndrome which is what killed off 90% or more of the SoCal abalone a few decades ago. So we would need to be very cautions with any potential transplanting. Additionally, if Sea Star Withering Syndrom is still present in CA waters then transplanted sun stars would likely contract the desease and die before puting a dent in the urchins. I think we need to find suns stars with genetic resistance to sea star withering syndrome. Perhapse captive breeding experiments will help find that much needed genetic variant. Thanks for watching!
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 yeah. I never really thought about harvesting them. I grew up in a diving family. My dad was a scuba instructor. I worked at PADI for 10 years. We always just thought of them as more of a nuisance. They sure get in the way when you’re lobster diving. Lol
Great question! There is current research investigating whether smashing them will help or hurt the situation. It might kill the urchins but by releasing eggs and sperm into the water it may further exacerbate the overpopulation problem. I am not sure if these scientists have enough data together yet to determine the best course of action but I am sure they will know soon and hopefully they can use that study to keep folks informed on our best course of action to help deal with the urchin barren problem!
It is truly heartbreaking! But it is also important that we spread awareness an try to do whatever we can to help. There are currently sea urchin removal dives and low tide removals on the Sonoma Coast and Mendocino Coast organized by groups like the Waterman's Alliance if you would like to get involved.
I do not give precise locations as a policy. The Sonoma Coast and Mendocino Coast are covered with them though. You will not have to look very hard. Just look for rocky reef
They are native they are only acting like invasives now that their natural predator has gone extinct as I discussed in the video. However, until balence is restored I also wonder why there is a bag limit. That being said, Cal DFW did increase the bag limit to 40 gallons for divers in the waters most affected by them. I don't know anyone who can eat 40 gallons of uni so maybe thats whay they limit it?
This species can unfortunately slow their metabolism in a semi-hibernation state. I believe that is why they survive long after the abalone starve. I will have to research this more though.
I know people don't want to blow up spots, but I wish there was more known places that are A) Legal to dive for and B) have a lot of Urchin. Everyone just goes to Pillar Point HMB on low tides, to the point where everyone has to go to the very very edge of the reef to find any. If more places were known we could all spread out a bit more.
A valid comment! Van Damme State Beach on the south side of the cove has a shallow and long reef absolutely loaded with them! These can be accessed easily at significant minus tides or easily by diving in 5-8ft of water. Additionally, a good hint would be that if the Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma Coasts have increased the diver bag limit and currently (2023) allow for a 40 gallon bag limit for divers, then that would suggest that going north would be a better bet to get into them than going south. Hope that helps and thanks for watching!
Along San Mateo coast on rocky areas are usually full of Purple sea urchins, but accessible only on low or negative tides. Rocky beach area along the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Martin’s Beach, Bean Hollow, Pescadero to name a few…
I charge for my mushroom identification courses, guided freedive spearfishing, coastal foraging, etc. you can email me at catchncookca@gmail for more info.
you need to introduce crabs to the region that eat sea urchin...then you need to introduce carnivorus whelks to control the crab population, then you need free roam scallops which are not rock scallops.
100% agreed. Diving Monterey area (as of 2023) is very similar to what it was once like on the Sonoma, Mendo and Humboldt coasts. But there is more giant kelp there than the bull kelp that dominated the north coast.
Some species are native here but yes, some species are very much invasive. There is a dive video surrounding that topic that will need to be made at some point this summer I think.
If the sea otter had never been hunted to extinction by the Russians on the North Coast in the mid 1800's then this might not have happened. However if we reintroduce them at this point they will practice an optimal foraging strategy which will kill off the last remaining ablone first (as they are the highest ranked resource that they consume). After they finish off the abalone population,they will switch to red urchin and only after that will they focus on purples (the problem species) which have the lowest yeild. Unfortunately the situation is very complex.
Yup! Agreed. That's why I mentioned that they are not true invasives in the video. But without their natural keystone predators they are acting like invasives and doing more damage than many truly invasive species at this time. Thanks for watching.
I disagree with the title of this video. The purple sea urchins are NOT invasive. An invasive species is an introduced species/non native species, that harms its new environment. The fact is that the purple sea urchin is a native to the area, and they are being a problem because a water temperature issue killed their natural predator. Back in the 1800s, the natural predator of these sea urchins was actually not starfish, but sea otters. If they reintroduced the sea otters from other parts of California, aka the same species, the issue can be resolved. There are also areas in California were these star fish still are and we could bring back that species with breeding programs
Very informative. Can you think of any other ways we can help to get kelp beds back without being a diver? Not confident enough as a swimmer to go out diving
Absolutely! Non-divers can try coastal foraging at low tides (-1.0 or lower) or anyone can vote with their wallets! What I mean is that if we all demand that our local restaurants only serve purple sea urchin or we will not buy uni when we go out, there will be an increased commercial demand for this species and that will mean more will be taken out of the water every day to supply the market. Money talks. Right now, there is no commercial harvest for purple urchin only because the red urchin have larger reproductive organs so they fetch a higher market price. The purple urchins taste better (sweeter) than reds, but they are smaller. If we insist that we will only pay for purple urchin then we can have a very positive impact on the local environment by "voting with our wallets!" Great question!
Please read lord jesus's bible over lord satens for once and you will see these creatures as you call them evil ungodlike word a.k.a mammal other animals or fish are not fit for consumption because they make our bodies cancerous. Chapter Leviticus of God's word Hebrew texts may give you greater insights as to how to be well-er. Also lord jesus teaches to show mercy over kindness to a few fellows such as yourselfs
@@Stewmanship mmmm yummy purple sea urchin uni 🤤🤤🤤
The purple urchin have become so pervasive and flourishing that there are plenty of places VERY close to shore along the coast you can forage for them without a negative or low tide. I've foraged limits in 15 minutes easy.
@@joeynelson1609 15mins? wow. I'm a few hours from the coast so I can't go that often but would love to find a spot to give them a try. Especially if they are as pervasive as you say.
The West coast should copy how the gulf coast does to cull their lionfish problem. Establish a market, have dive clubs do derbies and contests, no catch limits. If you want to start a business: you and a couple buddies dive and harvest the purples, harvest the uni, sell to local markets and grind the exoskeletons to make fertilizer or chicken feed. You and Taku could collab and make a documentary. But if fisherman continue doing videos foraging and cooking them, its a great way to spread the info and get people to do it.
Yup! Taku and I were just talking about some of these ideas a few days ago! I would love to see some commercial incentive for harvesting them and I would love to see Cal DFW approve some emergency purple urchin commercial permits to help with the issue. I am not sure if that is on their radar yet though.
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 what if FnG broadcast to Asian media and markets. If there's no limits, their numbers will be down in a year
There should be a temporary removal of the bag limit on Urchins and allow for collection in all zones, including MPA's.
I hear you. It might go that way soon.
I agree, purple urchin should be harvestable along the entire coast.
sunflower stars are now critically endangered, used to be estimated billions of them. we really need those guys back to help with the urchin population, it surprises me more is not being done to hatchery raise sunflower stars and release them. the wasting disease is so unfortunate
I hear you! Oregon State University is working on it but I wish many other universities and private donors could collaborate to make it a more widespread program!
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 that's awesome to hear OSU is getting on board, I also looked into it and found out Washington university at the Friday harbor lab has a breeding program. fingers crossed for them.
and cool video bro
As a surfer I try and get out the there regularly to remove as many of those spiny punks whenever I can. Usually eat a few with rice while I'm at it, too.
There shouldn’t be a cap or daily bag limit of purple sea urchin for recreational fishing. Only allowed 35 per day per California Regulation (29.06. General). It doesn’t make sense to limit the take if they’re causing problems. Increase the daily bag limit at least, or for recreational take, no need to require fishing license.
Great video and very informative. Uni salsa looks delish😋
100% agreed!
Loved the content! The comparison of how the kelp forrest was and its current state is eye opening. You really did a great job connecting the dots on the kelp forrest decline. Your presentation kept me hooked. Keep creating this kind of content.
Thanks Ricardo! This was a tough one to make but a video I had wanted to do for several years now. A very important topic that affects us all.
Great intro and information Dr.K on what has happened to our Kelp beds. On the bright side we can hope the "Giant Kelp Restoration Project" down in Monterey is making good to great progress. Thanks again for keeping us informed-
Not only should there not be a harvest limit. They ought to have a bounty on purple sea urchin where cdfw pays anyone brings them in. A rate that would make a dent would be perhaps, $50 per 40 gallons. Rate could be adjusted for sustainability and expense.
Makes sense to me
I don’t think that this is legal or the right way to do it.
The fact is that these urchins are a native species and you can’t put a bounty on a native species.
They should fix the problem by reintroducing their actual natural predator, which is sea lions and increasing sea lion population.
In addition, sea kelp is a plant. Killing of native animals in order to bring back a plant, is silly.
Before the issue, these kelp beds houses sea stars, urchin. With the death of sea stars this caused imbalance to system and now sea urchin population is exploding.
Completely forgot about this series since it's been too long ago. Glad to see another upload!
Been guiding a lot! And this one took a while to edit! Hope to drop the next one in the series asap!
This series makes me want to go to the coast and rent some free diving equipment for a day or two.
I used to free dive in the Gulf of Mexico from Florida. Back when I was in middle school during spring break my grandpa used to buy plane tickets for us to come visit. He passed away when I was in high school. When ever we went to the beach I would go out swimming for a couple hours. I only had/used a snorkel tho, no flippers or dive belt.
Hope you get out there again soon!
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 I've always lived in Oregon, we have the purple urchin up here too. I'm currently living in Central Oregon.
I was diving in Florida back in 2004-2007. I'm sure it's ruined out there too. I saw some crazy cool stuff. I had a 4 foot bull shark swim within a foot of me, it probably smelled my fish.
Hey Kevin. It’s me Tao. I met you at Fort Bragg yesterday. You gave me some tips about using squid 🦑 for catching lings. I found out about this topic on sea urchins invading California through a food docu. I think it’s mostly the purple/pink urchins that outnumbered the reds who are prized for their gonads. I heard that commercialers who imports tons to Japan skip them bc they produce very little gonads. I never ate sea urchins before, gonna start trying to aid in the help of their population control. If I’m not wrong. Kelps produce more than 60% of our planets oxygens. We need to help them.
Tao! Nice meeting you! In my opinion the purple urchin has sweeter uni than the red urchin so that is one more reason to go for them. You are absolutely correct that kelp produces a ton of oxygen and sequesters carbon so we need to do everything we can to bring back the kelp beds!
I wish I had gotten a chance to dive before all the kelp was gone. Luckily there's a small patch near me, but nothing quite like Ocean cove in those clips. Great channel, glad I found it!.
Another great video, I'm very appreciative of you sharing the knowledge about our urchin over population. I hope one day our waters return to some sort of normalcy.
Awesome video Kevin !! I really enjoy your diving expeditions they are so much fun and to see what's under all that water is so cool. I always learn something new, when I spend time with you, and I appreciate that. glad you were not by yourself, that Uni bowl looked delicious fresh and crisp . Can't wait for the next one. 🥰🎣🌿✌
I used to love diving for Abs. Fish and game totaly ignored the fate of the Red Abalone. What a shame.
Not sure that I understand what you mean.
So informative. Most underrated channel on RUclips.
Thanks you! Much appreciated!
Great video kevin! Always learning new things watching you videos. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Adam. Likewise! I still want to try using live eels for ling bait! Such a great idea man!
I think your sign off “keep the old ways alive” is my favorite
Right on! I still have not explained in a video where that comes from. I suppose I will have to discuss that in a video soon. Thanks for watching!
Nice video Kevin. Glad to see a handful of Abs still out there trying to get by.
Heck yeah, Kev! Can't wait to get out in the water again!
Looking forward to it Chris!
Hope we can find sunflower starfish resistant to warm water or even create them with DNA modification
I hear you! In the meantime we gotta just keep harvesting purple sea urchin!
Great video Doc. Two questions: 1)11:59 you mention if foraging, its 35 per day, but a different metric if free/scuba diving. If you are free/SCUBA diving FOR urchin, why is that not considered foraging and subject to the higher limit? 2) if the purple sea urchin are so bad, why were/did/do the regulatory (state or federal) not eliminate the daily bag limit, or even offer a bounty for them? Heck, why not just ask divers to crush them while out there? I'm very interested in this.
what a beautiful video...answering a lot of questions
Thank you!
Awesome video - excited to forage some uni on the Oregon coast and make into uni salsa!
Thanks! Go get them!
I forgot about getting served that urchin salsa dish. That was pretty good. Nice video. It was really different from your other videos.
Thanks bro! And thanks for letting me borrow some footage!
Brother.....I'm just North of you , up here in Northern Oregon. Only started free diving a few years ago ( switching to Hookah this year ). I have seen some of these purple Urchins , but not any where near the scale in your video. This is something that the states Fish & Wildlife need to address , and quick! They need to up the limit to infinity on these things until we get this under control. Love your channel dude , and hope to dive with you one day.
I am glad you have not seen too many up there yet! I think the next couple of years will see many management changes. I just got back from a festival my friend organized to bring awareness to the issues. The winds of change are flowing now! Thanks for watching!
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 Unfortunately , I think you are 100% correct. Animals are migrating North. Just 3 years ago I caught my first ever California Brown crab up here in Tillamook off the Barview jetty. Never seen them this far North , and I caught about a dozen of them! I didn't mind so much , as they were super tasty , but it makes me wonder what else is moving up this way.
This video was incredibly informative and helpful. thanks
Thanks for watching! It was a hard video to make for a variety of reasons but I am glad that you found it useful/informative!
We learned a lot! Very informative and that salsa looks delicious!!
Glad to hear it!
That was an awesome dive...wish im there to share the sea urchins..take care and GB xx
Ok…so many things on this video…
Love it and just in my short 2 years of diving I have seen how bad this is getting in Southern California, but also what happens when you clear urchins out at some spots!!! Kelp grows fast and can easily reforest quickly if you take care of the urchins.
I have buddies that never ate Uni or scallops in the long times that they have been spearfishing. I grabbed some for them on a boat dive last year and every single one of them was blown away by both and just amazed how sweet both were.
The orange line…that was my first from SpearAmerica because it was cheap…OMG, not fun by any way shape or form…loves to get tangled on itself, on kelp, on reef, on you!!!
Uni salsa!!! Going to try that!!!!
Dr. Kev we love your videos you are the man! I’m headed to Bodega bay from Reno next month. I’ll be passing through Sacramento. I need to get a Dive hood I remember you had a favorite Dive shop there I was hoping you might be able to give me the name of that shop. Thank you so much keep up the great work can’t wait to get some of my own urchent
It is called The Freedive Shop in Sacramento. Ask for Greg and Vanessa and tell them that I sent you! Have fun and be safe!
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 thank you so much Dr. Kev I will definitely Lee mention your name and I appreciate you helping me get hooked up with this dive shop. What’s funny is I’m from Reno and I ordered a spare gun from the same shop. I said they only take walk-ins by appointment, which I will do. I’m starting out with a Scorpia we’re going to try to get a guide from you for some mushroom foraging. Hopefully you have the time and thank you so much my family and I learn from you the time take care.
Absolutely heartbreaking! As a scuba enthusiast it makes me so sad! I was raised up north in Arcata. I dove Fort Bragg a lot.
I feel your pain! Hopefully the Sea Urchin Festival in Mendocino helps spread interest this year and we can get the masses to help make a difference by foraging those purple devils!
Can someone please make a constructive comment about why there is a limit on purple sea urchins when they have invaded our coastal waters?
They are a native species but acting like invasives in some places. In many places in CA purple urchins are in balance and are no issue. In some places like Sonoma Coast and North they are a real problem now. Not exactly sure why there is a bag limit in those places but a quick search of Cal DFW website will show you numerous coves currently being used for culling experiments where there is no bag limit. 40 gallons for divers in Sonoma County and north may as well be no limit as that is a ton of sea urchin for anyone to haul out. But 35 per person per day for foot-based foragers working on the North Coast where the overpopulation issues are very real does seem a bit odd. I would also be interested to hear if anyone can chime in about that.
This is awesome. I think more people need to turn their attention to the oceans. The great barrier reef has been dieing for years,Mass extinctions, and all sorts of craziness. Without the ocean the whole world dies.
Thanks for watching! I agree that we cannot afford to overlook what is happening in our oceans. Think about the massive kelp forests off of our coast reducing by over 90% in the last decade due to sea urchin overgrazing! Kelp/seaweed and marine algae make a ton of oxygen for our planet and sequester carbon. If we can convince everyone to get out and harvest their own uni/sea urchin or to only buy purple sea urchin (the problem species) when at restaurants I think we can help out a lot.
💛...is there any way to reintroduce a variety of seastars to the area?...
I am hoping that we can start a captive breeding program for sunflower stars that have a mutation/resistance to the wasting syndrome but honestly I do not know if any have yet been found that have such a mutation. Theoretically it is possible though.
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 I remember Rogue Brewery made a beer to raise funds for researching this like 8 years ago.
As always, great video!!
nice background info!! love historic facts!!
Thanks for watching! I would definitely appreciate it if you would share this vid with folks that you feel would like to stay informed on our current kelp forest health.
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 It shall be done!!
Thanks for this Dr. K
Very informative!
Thanks for watching! I appreciate that Jun. I feel like this situation affects all of us so I really wanted you all to see it first hand from an underwater perspective.
Great video! Jw, what does part (c) mean... "(c) There is no possession limit for purple sea urchin." but (a) and (b) have limits. new to this. thanks
Great question! You are allowed 35 per day unless you are diving in certain counties which allow you to take 40 gallons. This would be the daily bag limit that you are allowed to have on you while foraging. However, you could make it a three day weekend outing and take your daily bag limit back to camp each day. This then would be what you have in possession as you leave your camp and travel home. According to the regulations as of 2023 there is no possession limit.
isnt it possible to introduce a similar sunflower starfish species to help deal with the purple urchins?
Possibly, but every time that wildlife officers bring in non-native species in to deal with situations they end up bringing their own diseases and other massive environmental impacts. The mongoose in Jamaica is a prime example.
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 yeah i guessed as much, was thinking if the species is closely related to the local one the potential problems would be less severe
That looked great. Thank you
I can’t help but think that you are diving in white shark hunting grounds. Maybe not as much with the kelp forest gone, but there were still seals around.
That is true. The Sonoma Coast is part of the Red Triangle which is their breeding grounds.
Really enjoyed this episode and had been actually wanting to get into doing exactly this sort of thing this year after seeing a video on the explosion at casper cove. How do I contact you to hear more about your guide services?
Glad to hear that! You can email me at catchncookca@gmail for details on guided freedive spearfishing, coastal foraging, survival skills, mushroom identification courses, etc.
Wow. Very informative. Thank you
Dr. Kev, can you please link the brother's spearfishing channel?
This is his old channel. Some pretty fun stuff on there! www.youtube.com/@seahunter1
Great video! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Which float line was that getting your buddy tangled up? I'm looking to replace my vinyl float line but want to pass on the one shown ;) Thanks again!
I think it was made by spearfishing world
If you're not a diver but live in Northern California, what are some of the better places to forage for purple urchin at low tide?
Van Damme State Beach in Mendocino. Happy foraging!
Cant wait for the Socal episode!
I plan to film quite a few down there! I couldn't call this channel Catch N Cook California and ignore the whole southern portion of the state ;)
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 love to hear it!
Great video Kevin. I'm trying to get into free diving and harvest sea urchins. Could you recommend some spots in Sonoma county? What type of wet suit should I choose?
Thanks! You can grab urchins at Fort Ross which tends to be pretty safe compared to the open coast though it can also get very rough so be sure you plan accordingly and go with a diver with a good amount of experience (the Sonoma Coast is a lot rougher than Monterey or SoCal for instance). As for wetsuits, you want open-cell and 7mm thick. There are a number of decent companies that make good ones. I recommend elios sub suits but DM me for more info.
Thank you for your helpful info
How there is a limit to purple sea urchins make any sense. They are very highly prized in Japanese food. It should be a free for all until the population is under control.
Agreed!
Do you think that ecosystem might balance itself out since eventually the urchins will also eat themselves to desperation?
Many people have asked this but urchins are capable of slowing their metabolism so much they can wait for a very long time without food and have even been known to reproduce under starvation conditions. It would be great if they did simply die off after eating off their own food supply, but I think we have to take a more proactive approach or they will likely repopulate the same reef as soon as the kelp starts coming back (with no sun stars left to prey upon them). I say, eat as many as you can and forage for them often!
@@catchncookcalifornia1574
Very good to know. I've never had uni, but it's definitely on the list when I get out there! Do you know of any ways to help bring back the sun star?
Great video Kevin. One of my fav sea creatures to eat!
I was at the Oregon coast last spring, micro fishing in a large tidepool with my kids. My son found a purple sea urchin in a nearby pool so we cracked it open. It was great and I'll be trying to do this more in the future.
I live on the Washington coast and have never seen an urchin here I would love to try them but none here if you don’t mind telling where abouts in Oregon did you find them
@@heathwilson6366 I could give you a location, but then it would fish out pretty quick. Look for rocky headlands where tide pools are exposed along with macro algae . This includes bull kelp off shore along with palm kept or sea grasses on the rocks.
I agree and thanks for the tip
@@heathwilson6366 be happy that they're hard to find up there. I live in Oregon and my regular spots for fishing / clamming / crabbing are in the Northern part of the Oregon Coast and there are not as many urchin here. The further South you get the higher the population explosion. I saw plenty in tidepool areas south of Newport. They're abundant in Port Orford and Bandon.
@@hedoesthingspdx thanks for the info I’ll head over that way sometime I just wanna give them a try well my grandson and I do hopefully they taste good so I can help get rid of some
I had no idea about the loss of the kelp or seaweed. As a kid in the early 60s I did a bit of free diving and spearfishing. Plenty of kelp then. As a surf bum I often discovered the urchins when I had to walk across the rocks. I know a few people that enjoy eating them, I just don't happen to be one of them. Is there really anything we can do to get the kelp back or is it out of human hands?
I think with no other natural urchin predator around anymore, the ball just landed in our court. It is up to humans to step up and help the sea this time! Luckily, like you said, a lot of people do enjoy urchin so there is incentive to at least bring some home for your friends even if you yourself do not happen to be an urchin lover. Crazy times though huh?
Where can we harvest from shore in the county during low tide?
Marc, as long as you are not in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) or a State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) that specifically prohibits the take of urchin you should be fine. Look for areas of rocky reef that say shallow way off shore. At low tide these areas should be covered with them. Good luck!
In New Zealand people get paid by department of conservation to collect them to keep them under control. They should be turned into food. Or garden fertiliser.
I wish they would do that here too!
I've seen so many videos stating how purple urchin are a problem. What happens if you remove them all? In combination of warmer waters does another imbalance happen? Also if it's so bad why isn't there just a simple commercial solution like for every 100lbs of urchins harvested get rewarded $1000? May be not the best example but just don't think the incentives are in place to solve the problem so maybe it's not as simple as purple urchins need to go?
Gary, I really wish there was more commercial incentive! As of now, there are captive breeding programs attempting to reintroduce the sun star. If the sea surface temperatures are lower now, then maybe sea star wasting syndrome will stop spreading. However, I am worried that without finding sun stars with a genetic mutation/resistance to the disease we may simply reintroduce them and see them die off again. At least marine biologists are trying at this point but considering that this in unprecedented in the historic record in North America, it may take some time for a solution to be developed. In the meantime, if sea urchins are removed seaweed seems to come back and that provides refuge and food for fish and other species of shellfish (including abalone). For now, the best thing we sport-harvesters can do is to take our limits of purple urchin whenever possible (and where it is legal)!
Thank you for reviewing why purple urchins can be taken in large qty. I've been gathering purple urchins when I find an aggregation, but I'm kind of at a loss for how to dispose of them. Any ideas?
It is illegal to take with intent to waste so you will have to come up with something to do with them. You could try pulverizing to use as fertilizer, or slow-simmering to remove spines to make tea lights. I will do this in the near future in a vid.
As of August 2023, the bag limit for purple sea urchin in some parts of California is now listed as: 40 gallons! Start harvesting folks.
To clarify, the daily bag limit is still 35 per person per day for purple urchins if foraging on foot. When diving in Sonoma County, Mendocino County or Humboldt County the daily bag limit for purple urchin is 40 gallons as of 2023.
@@catchncookcalifornia1574If you take more than allowed who is going to fine you? From what I can tell law enforcement in California is non exsistant.
Someone please gather for me
Love this!
hey whats the story on that rusty dive knife?
Lol no real story. Cheapest dive knife on Amazon. Works fine but is far from perfect.
Urchins make a good soil amendment for raised beds, too.
Anyone know... Is it legal within an MPA to relocate urchins into anemones?
I like the urchin-for-fertilizer idea! It is something I was wondering about for a long time. Pretty sure it would not be legal to relocate them within MPA's but I am hoping Cal DFW implements some new regulations soon to make it even easier to make a difference.
Hi Kevin, I just noticed a Notification from your channel asking me to reply to a text in order to collect a gift . It looked suspicious, especially asking me to reply via tex to a phone number with a Bridgeport, Connecticut area code (203). Just want to make you aware of this.
Thank you Ricardo. THAT IS A SCAM! I have reported it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Please report it on your end as well so that RUclips takes it seriously. -Cheers
I seen your lil buddy down there, the leopard seal
Hi! I was wondering where this was? dive site name?
so how do you feel about restoring sea otters?
I am for it eventually but since otters practice an optimal foraging strategy if they were reintroduced right now they would eat the remaining ablone first, then the red urchin and only after that would they focus on purple urchin. At the moment I think that would exacerbate the problem.
We love sea urchins here in NZ. Very expessive too.
Awesome video!
Could the starfish be transplanted in?
It is possible as long as we could be sure that they were not carrying something that could kill other sea life. Transplanted South African ablone brought to an abalone farm in southern CA ended up introducing abalone Withering Foot Syndrome which is what killed off 90% or more of the SoCal abalone a few decades ago. So we would need to be very cautions with any potential transplanting. Additionally, if Sea Star Withering Syndrom is still present in CA waters then transplanted sun stars would likely contract the desease and die before puting a dent in the urchins. I think we need to find suns stars with genetic resistance to sea star withering syndrome. Perhapse captive breeding experiments will help find that much needed genetic variant. Thanks for watching!
No way in hell would I get in shark infested Waters . More power to anyone tempting fate around the huge Great White's
Sheesh I so want fresh Uni but live to far away now what would be awesome if shusi restaurants or stores would process them & sell but they don't.
I’m in Dana Point California and could limit out every day for the rest of my life. They are all over the place
Are they in an area where sea urchin are legal to harvest? If so, go for it!!!!
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 yeah. I never really thought about harvesting them. I grew up in a diving family. My dad was a scuba instructor. I worked at PADI for 10 years. We always just thought of them as more of a nuisance. They sure get in the way when you’re lobster diving. Lol
They should put a no bag limit or bounty on them to help reduce their numbers. Then reintroduce the sun starfish
good one
Does smashing the urchin help? I’ve heard that smashing them can help them spawn
Great question! There is current research investigating whether smashing them will help or hurt the situation. It might kill the urchins but by releasing eggs and sperm into the water it may further exacerbate the overpopulation problem. I am not sure if these scientists have enough data together yet to determine the best course of action but I am sure they will know soon and hopefully they can use that study to keep folks informed on our best course of action to help deal with the urchin barren problem!
My no.1 fav seafood
As a native Californian this really bums me out
It is truly heartbreaking! But it is also important that we spread awareness an try to do whatever we can to help. There are currently sea urchin removal dives and low tide removals on the Sonoma Coast and Mendocino Coast organized by groups like the Waterman's Alliance if you would like to get involved.
Respect ✊
That looks so delicious!
Why a different amount if you are foraging.
Im not sure but I assume that it is to keep some for wildlife and birds to forage?
I think the biggest thing that’d help is more purple sea urchin recipes!
Uni pasta, uni rice, uni salsa... I will try to incorporate more into my videos. Please let me know if you come up with some recipes too!
Sea urchins are a huge issue in the adriatic coast of croatia too
I did not know that!
Where is it exactly bro ?
I do not give precise locations as a policy. The Sonoma Coast and Mendocino Coast are covered with them though. You will not have to look very hard. Just look for rocky reef
I don´t understand why are these unis limited by a law, even though they are invasive species.
They are native they are only acting like invasives now that their natural predator has gone extinct as I discussed in the video. However, until balence is restored I also wonder why there is a bag limit. That being said, Cal DFW did increase the bag limit to 40 gallons for divers in the waters most affected by them. I don't know anyone who can eat 40 gallons of uni so maybe thats whay they limit it?
why aren't the urchins starving?
This species can unfortunately slow their metabolism in a semi-hibernation state. I believe that is why they survive long after the abalone starve. I will have to research this more though.
@@catchncookcalifornia1574 thanks for the reply.. i will be interested in what you find.
I could watch you crack open urchins to feed fish all day.
hello
I know people don't want to blow up spots, but I wish there was more known places that are A) Legal to dive for and B) have a lot of Urchin. Everyone just goes to Pillar Point HMB on low tides, to the point where everyone has to go to the very very edge of the reef to find any.
If more places were known we could all spread out a bit more.
A valid comment! Van Damme State Beach on the south side of the cove has a shallow and long reef absolutely loaded with them! These can be accessed easily at significant minus tides or easily by diving in 5-8ft of water. Additionally, a good hint would be that if the Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma Coasts have increased the diver bag limit and currently (2023) allow for a 40 gallon bag limit for divers, then that would suggest that going north would be a better bet to get into them than going south. Hope that helps and thanks for watching!
Along San Mateo coast on rocky areas are usually full of Purple sea urchins, but accessible only on low or negative tides. Rocky beach area along the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Martin’s Beach, Bean Hollow, Pescadero to name a few…
Is there a fee to go mushroom hunting with you?
I charge for my mushroom identification courses, guided freedive spearfishing, coastal foraging, etc. you can email me at catchncookca@gmail for more info.
you need to introduce crabs to the region that eat sea urchin...then you need to introduce carnivorus whelks to control the crab population, then you need free roam scallops which are not rock scallops.
I really hope that one day the kelp ecosystem is restored so i can witness it.
100% agreed. Diving Monterey area (as of 2023) is very similar to what it was once like on the Sonoma, Mendo and Humboldt coasts. But there is more giant kelp there than the bull kelp that dominated the north coast.
Just wanted to say your intro always remi ds me of Time Team for some reason
Not quite coast, but coastal: crawdads are invasive and delicious
Some species are native here but yes, some species are very much invasive. There is a dive video surrounding that topic that will need to be made at some point this summer I think.
Clearly, we need more sea otters!
If the sea otter had never been hunted to extinction by the Russians on the North Coast in the mid 1800's then this might not have happened. However if we reintroduce them at this point they will practice an optimal foraging strategy which will kill off the last remaining ablone first (as they are the highest ranked resource that they consume). After they finish off the abalone population,they will switch to red urchin and only after that will they focus on purples (the problem species) which have the lowest yeild. Unfortunately the situation is very complex.
post more on IG mann!
Cool video! Just a little misleading with the word invasive in the title. As they are NOT invasive.
Yup! Agreed. That's why I mentioned that they are not true invasives in the video. But without their natural keystone predators they are acting like invasives and doing more damage than many truly invasive species at this time. Thanks for watching.
I disagree with the title of this video.
The purple sea urchins are NOT invasive.
An invasive species is an introduced species/non native species, that harms its new environment.
The fact is that the purple sea urchin is a native to the area, and they are being a problem because a water temperature issue killed their natural predator.
Back in the 1800s, the natural predator of these sea urchins was actually not starfish, but sea otters.
If they reintroduced the sea otters from other parts of California, aka the same species, the issue can be resolved.
There are also areas in California were these star fish still are and we could bring back that species with breeding programs