BOLINAO–The former goldmine of this rich coastal town, the sea urchin (locally known as kuden kuden), which collapsed in 1992 due to unregulated harvesting, is now on the road to recovery.

Davelyn Pastor, restocking specialist of Sagip Lingayen Gulf Project (SLGP) based here, said that the reseeding project that started 14 years is beginning to reap benefits.

The latest reseeding activity of 5,000 sea urchins (tripneustes gratilla) this month was made along the Hundred Islands National Park (HINP) in Alaminos City around the protected marine area in Virgin, Braganza and Quirino Islands.

By July, another 5,000 sea urchins will be reseeded in the other areas of the HINP based on an earlier agreement with the Alaminos City government headed by Mayor Hernani Braganza.

This is part of the rehabilitation efforts to restock the depleted wild stocks, Pastor said.

The restocking of the depleted species is a joint undertaking of the SLGP, the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute hatchery in Bolinao, the provincial governments of Pangasinan and La Union, the Marine  Environment and Resources Foundation  (MERF), Tanggol Kalikasan and Sentro  para sa Ikauunlad ng Agham at Teknolohiya with the support of the Royal  Netherlands Embassy.  

Earlier, they have made re-seeding projects in this town, Bani, Anda and in San Fernando City, La Union.

Pastor recalled that in 1980s and early 90s, the sea urchin was considered a multimillion-peso fishery product in Bolinao after fishermen discovered that there was a lucrative market for sea urchin roe.

The project to save the dying sea urchins through re-seeding of hatchery-cultured species to the wild was started in 1992 to replace the depleted stocks and re-establish spawning population in Bolinao.

After 14 long years, Pastor said they are now seeing “indications of good recruitment” of sea urchins.

She said what’s significant is there are indications of recovery through proper management system of the local government units concerned.

The gonads of sea urchins make good sushi. — EVA

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