International Fisheries Symposium 2011 5 Sea Urchin Fishery Practices in Sabah Raymie bin Nurhasan and Siti Akmar Khadijah binti Ab Rahim Department of Aquatic Science, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. rayzz_nur87@yahoo.com, arakmar@frst.unimas.my Abstract Sea urchins are marine benthos and its fishery is one of the important echinoderm fisheries in the world due to their highly prized gonad especially in Asia, Mediterranean and Caribbean countries. In Malaysia, sea urchin fishery is only available in Sabah at a small scale since long time ago for local market only. Sea urchin is treated as local delicacy and income sources especially by the Bajau and Filipino people in Sabah. However, proper documentation about this fishery is still not available. Thus this study attempted to document the sea urchin fishery practices and identify edible sea urchin species in Sabah. Surveys and interviews targeting the consumers, fishermen and sellers were conducted at wet and dry markets, jetties, fishing villages and district offices of Department of Fisheries from December 2010 until April 2011 at Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Kudat and Kota Kinabalu. Photographs of edible sea urchins, collection process, processing and marketing were documented using a digital camera. Findings from this study provide some useful information about the sea urchin fishery in Sabah. Keywords--- sea urchin fishery, fishery practices, Sabah, edible sea urchin Introduction Sea urchins are marine benthic invertebrates that have calcareous tests and moveable spines. Approximately 1,000 species of sea urchin live in different habitat including the Arctic Sea and Antarctic Ocean [1]. They are generally harvested by divers and are processed for the market by removing the gonads, which are the most important component of the fleshy tissue. World sea urchin fishery industry is focus at Japan since a very long time ago. Japan is the world’s largest importer and consumer of sea urchin roe [2] [3] . The United States has become the largest supplier of sea urchins and sea urchin roe to Japan. Sea urchins roe is sold at high prize especially in Asia, Mediterranean and Caribbean countries [4]. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam are the countries that have exported sea urchins to Japan [1] [3]. In Malaysia, sea urchin fishery can only be found in Sabah and has existed long time ago although the specific timeline was not clear. The custom of consuming sea urchin gonad or roe is thought to come from the influence of Filipino and Indonesian people that live in Sabah. Although sea urchins are always treated as the “enemy” especially by divers and snorkelers since their spines could cause serious injuries to them, Sabah citizens treat sea urchins as a traditional delicacy and source of subsistence income. Sea urchin fishery in Sabah is operated at small scale and only certain ethnic groups are involved such as Bajau, Filipino and Pelauh (sea gypsies). Although sea urchin fishery had already existed long time ago in Sabah, documentation on sea urchins processing and marketing process is very scarce. The objectives of this study were to document the sea urchin fishery practices and identify edible sea urchin species in Sabah. Materials and Methods This study was conducted at Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Kudat and Kota Kinabalu (Figure 1) from December 2010 until April 2011. Information of sea urchin fishery in Sabah was gathered through surveys (respondents and direct surveys) and interviews (semi-formal and informal interviews) to the consumers, fishermen and sellers as well as Fisheries Department officers in selected districts. Surveys and interviews were carried out at wet and dry markets, jetties, fishing villages and Department of Fisheries at selected districts (Tawau, Semporna, Kunak and Kudat). Edible sea urchins were identified by interviewing fisherman at the fishing grounds and fishing villages by showing photos of sea urchin to them. Photographs of edible sea urchins, collection process, processing and marketing were documented using digital cameras. Results Surve ys and inte rvie ws In this study, a total of 55 respondents (17 males and 38 females) whose age ranging from 24 to 67 years old were interviewed (Figure 2).