Preliminary studies on the gonadal enhancement of giant red sea urchins taken from barrens in British Columbia

We collected giant red sea urchins in urchin barrens habitat with the inten t of enhancing them for market. We placed the urchins in enclosures and pro vided them with giant kelp for the 83-day period between 20 March 1998 and 12 June 1998. Sea urchins that were fed giant kelp had a final gonad index of 8.3, whereas the donor population had initial and final gonad indices of 2.9 and 3.5, respectively. In addition, the proportion of individuals disp laying a state of starvation via dark brown gonads was significantly lower after feeding compared to the donor population at the end of the experiment (2% and 17%, respectively). These results suggest that food limitation is an important factor in the gonadal development of this urchin population. M oreover, the findings suggest that the urchin resource can be expanded to i nclude barren habitats. Urchins taken from barrens can be quickly enhanced before being sent to market.