Green sea urchin fishery

2023 Economic profile of the green sea urchin fishery

Commercial fisheries overview

Over the past decade, the coastwide Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of Green Sea Urchin has slowly increased. It was constant at 203 tonnes until 2015 and then steadily climbed to 320 tonnes in 2023 (increase of 58%).

Key metrics for the green sea urchin fishery, all values are from 2023 and in 2023 dollars:

• Landed value ($1.8M), increased by 9% since 2022.
• Wholesale value ($3.0M), decreased by 5% since 2022.
• Active vessels (17), decreased by 15% since 2022.
• Licence eligibility (49, with 1 being communal commercial licence), no change since 2022.
• Licence value ($120K), increased by 50% since 2022.

Green sea urchin data by fishing season chart^{Footnote 1}.

Quota (in tonnes)

• 2012-2013 – 203 t
• 2013-2014 – 203 t
• 2014-2015 – 203 t
• 2015-2016 – 203 t
• 2016-2017 – 223 t
• 2017-2018 – 223 t
• 2018-2019 – 262 t
• 2019-2020 – 262 t
• 2020-2021 – 262 t
• 2021-2022 – 293 t
• 2022-2023 – 309 t

Landings (in tonnes)

• 2012-2013 - 131.52 t
• 2013-2014 - 166.79 t
• 2014-2015 - 136.11 t
• 2015-2016 - 184.40 t
• 2016-2017 - 220.67 t
• 2017-2018 - 204.79 t
• 2018-2019 - 249.17 t
• 2019-2020 - 217.77 t
• 2020-2021 - 248.21 t
• 2021-2022 - 292.11 t
• 2022-2023 - 292.66 t

Landed value (in 2023$)

• 2012-2013 - 0.58 M$
• 2013-2014 - 0.71 M$
• 2014-2015 - 0.60 M$
• 2015-2016 - 1.06 M$
• 2016-2017 - 1.41 M$
• 2017-2018 - 1.28 M$
• 2018-2019 - 1.68 M$
• 2019-2020 - 1.47 M$
• 2020-2021 - 1.38 M$
• 2021-2022 - 1.83 M$
• 2022-2023 - 1.65 M$

Commercial fishery BC green sea urchin – 2023 landed weight map

• North East Vancouver Island: 28.5 thousand kilograms in total volume
• South East Vancouver Island: 6.5 thousand kilograms in total volume

Income diversification of licence holders in active fisheries (2023)

In 2023, 20% of revenues for green sea urchin licence holders came from green sea urchin fishing, with the rest coming from various other fisheries. Geoduck (26%), Sea cucumber (34%), and Red Sea Urchin (20%).

Exports: Green Sea Urchins are shipped live and whole. Sea urchins (both red and green) are mainly shipped to overseas markets in Japan (39%) and Hong Kong (16%), followed by South Korea (14%), China (11%), the UK (8%), and Others (13%). Percentages are of total volume.

$1.1M in value-added processing was generated by 10 processing and wholesaling companies located coastwide in 2023.

The Green Sea Urchin fishery directly contributes $0.9M (GDP) to the provincial economy, with a direct employment and income contribution of 51 a nd $0.6M, respectively.

Green Sea Urchins are harvested for their reproductive organs.

The recreational fishery is a year-round open entry fishery. A DFO Tidal Waters Sport Fishing licence is required to enter. Green Sea Urchins must be handpicked. The daily limit for all urchin species combined is 12, with a possession limit of 24 and no size limit.

PICFI^{Footnote 2} supports First Nations' participation in the Green Sea Urchin fishery by providing funding and resources for developing and managing Commercial Fishing Enterprises (CFEs). Currently, one of the 49 licence eligibilities is held by First Nations.

Footnotes

• Licence eligibilities represents the number of issued licences.
• All values are from 2023 compared to 2022 in 2023-dollars by calendar year, unless otherwise specified.
• 2023 data and 2020–2023-dollar values are considered preliminary and are subject to change.