A company’s project into sea urchin ranching and kelp restoration has its first appointment, Maru Samuels as its in-country lead for Aotearoa.
Urchinomics is the company behind the project, teaming up with Samuels (Ngāi Takoto, Te Rarawa, Ngāi Te Rangi, Te Aupōuri and Ngati Hauā), who has had over 20 years of experience working with iwi and fishing companies.
Sea urchin ranching is a process where overgrazing urchins are re-homed and are moved into ranching systems. Doing that will help kelp forests to recover and grow.
Samuels hopes this kaupapa can help create employment opportunities for hapū and iwi.
“There are opportunities for our hapū and even our iwi to be involved right through this both as investors, as divers, as data collectors and working within the ranching of the aquaculture side of the business as well.
“Those are some of the cool mahi and opportunities I’m hoping I can help develop.”
Samuels said ranching was relatively a new concept across the motu but he hoped to speak to people in local communities on solutions and hear their aspirations for the future of kina.
“With Urchinomics, what we’re exploring is how you can take these kina and actually turn them back into something that you can eat and consume.”
He said a collaboration between Urchinomics and local communities was a must if it was going to work.
“There is an absolute understanding and recognition that, for this to work, Urchinomics has to do this in collaboration with our local communities. There is no other way to do it.
“Respecting the fact that our communities do have other options and we’re just hoping that through the model of kelp restoration [that we’re] utilising the kina [and] not just culling them.”
