Penghu farmers struggle to grow algae for sea urchins amid catch restrictions

Penghu farmers struggle to grow algae for sea urchins amid catch restrictions

2026-08-03

To preserve the marine environment, Penghu only allows harvest of sea urchins larger than 8cm in July and August, meaning that demand constantly outstrips supply. In response to these constraints, some businesses are developing techniques to cultivate them in farms. But raising good sea urchins first requires growing quality algae. Maintaining sustainable oceans is far from simple. Let’s take a look at the hard work these businesses are putting in to make sure consumers can enjoy delicious sea urchin year-round.

These customers happily eat huge bites of sea urchin, best enjoyed with a heaping mouthful of rice.

- Mm, so creamy!

- How is it?
- Sweet and delicious. Honestly, even better than in Hokkaido!

The sea urchins these customers are enjoying weren’t harvested from the sea. They actually came from a farm right here in Penghu.

Chen Ting-kuei
Sea urchin farmer
You can sell farm-raised sea urchin year-round. Wild ones are only available these two months. Within a month, they’re all gone.

Farmers say that raising sea urchins isn’t difficult. The hard part is securing a reliable food source for them.

Chen Ting-kuei
Sea urchin farmer
It’s a challenge if you want to expand your operations, unless you can grow algae successfully at scale. But growing that much algae depends on timing.

Sea urchins mainly eat algae and kelp. But how much can grow each year is constrained by the seasons, weather, and even water temperature and quality. As a result, the farm can only produce a maximum of around 12,000 sea urchins per year.

Tourist
Admires farm workers
I really admire them. This isn’t easy at all. The farm has to be kept very clean. And since sea urchins feed on algae, they have to grow the algae themselves, too.

Penghu sea urchins can only be caught in the wild for two months out of the year. Although they can be grown in farms year-round, current technological and scale limitations mean there are still challenges to overcome.

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#Penghu #seaurchin #seafood #aquaculture #sustainableseafood #marineconservation