This review updates our understanding of sea urchin barrens in New Zealand and the role fishing plays in their establishment to date. It also identifies key work required to support management decisions, including collating data on the distribution of urchin barrens, reviewing information required to set catch limits for sea urchin predators, and developing regional management approaches.

 

We review published scientific literature on sea urchin barrens in New Zealand and the role of fishing in their development.

 

We also summarise results of a national workshop to support management of sea urchin barrens.

 

Research based on observations from marine protected areas suggests fishing of sea urchin predators is causing and/or maintaining sea urchin barrens in north-east New Zealand.

 

The extent of sea urchin barrens and contributing factors in other parts of New Zealand appear to vary, but there are few published studies on this. 

 

Workshop discussions indicated an urgent need to develop a suite of management options to address sea urchin barrens at regional scales in collaboration with tangata whenua and stakeholders.

Document date
Friday, 24 November 2023

Document type
V 1.3

File format
Adobe PDF

File size
4.8 MB

Reference number
324

Sort order

AEBR: 324;
ISSN: 1179-6480;
ISBN: 978-1-991120-29-8;
AUTHOR: Doheny, B.; Davis, J.P.; Miller, B.;

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