A wonderful article on hunting, prepping, and eating the voracious purple sea urchin that has devastated the CA Kelp forests:
The solution to California’s rampant sea urchin problem is to eat them. I gave it a try
Biologists and chefs are urging people to chow down on the purple sea urchins that are destroying California’s vital kelp forests. Could I catch and cook my own?
London Guardian U.S. by Vivian Ho 11 Apr 2021
Has anyone here tasted the purple urchins?
I was just going to post that article, but you saved me the trouble @Lethe2020; sounds like a good ocean foraging opportunity for someone - could be quite the lucrative business…
Yes you can collect them on your own.
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocean/Regulations/Sport-Fishing/Invertebrate-Fishing-Regs
Daily limit is 35.
Why would you cook it? Better raw IMO. Though I have a had a few ricci di mare pasta dishes that were pretty good.
It brings to mind the surge (ha!) in lionfish on menus as they became an ecological problem in many areas.
I don’t understand why the limit if purple urchin is invasive…
Yes, I have tasted the roe/gonads of a Northern California purple urchin…bitter, and not much to taste.
Maybe a warm weather event has affected the area. Maybe we are experiencing a species extinction.
There are many environmental causes that could use funding. Have you written a check this Year?
Interesting article, thanks for posting it. I’m not sure if I’ve ever tried purple sea urchin before. I found a video about harvesting and eating purple urchins from a bit farther north in Oregon:
Harvested purple urchins in Northern California is an expense, not a lucrative business. The harvested, uneaten purple urchins present a local disposal issue.
In the olden days, star fish ate the purple urchins, a few years ago, something killed the star fish, without predators the purple urchin population increased.
So the purple urchins aren’t considered to be a delicacy, I take it? Or the harvesting is too labor intensive? I’ve had the other type of uni…
Certain shellfish where I live are worth diving for by some, who make a pretty good living from it. Was just pondering the possibilities…
Harvest all the urchins. Abalone feed on kelp. The abalone season is closed indefinitely in California
Please come to Mendocino County after you have been vaccinated to harvest local purple urchins.
I recommend Surf Motel for lodging, I do not know of any local places to rent dive gear…they all closed. There are other places for lodging if you are interested.
Exceptionally interesting article.
I compared the purple urchin to lionfish above. When lionfish first became a problem there were cash bounties in Florida and the Bahamas. Harvesting is still encouraged (see https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lionfish/challenge/) but I believe the bounties are gone. The lionfish market is self-sustaining. Of course they taste good.
There was a similar program for snakehead fish in the midatlantic states for a while but I think that has faded also. I don’t know if we knocked back the population or something else has happened.
The purple urchins are not tasty. A Northern Californium university is working with state officials. The purple urchins are problems in other areas (countries) too.
Local commercial urchin divers are harvesting the purple urchins, disposal has been a problem.
Love that part of the planet @JMat - as far as harvesting the pesky purple urchins, not so much 
Do hope an effective solution is found.
Incineration doesn’t work? I’m thinking rural fuel heaters running on waste oil - get pretty hot.
This article says that that purple urchins are tasty and that they were exported to Japan.
