Funded Projects 2014-2020

As a result of the project´s research and underwater surveys, new fishing areas were discovered in Iceland. This allowed the Thorisholmi fishing company to increase their annual catch, buy new fishing boat and hire more employees. Additionally, the project helped the fishing companies to discover new markets in the USA and Asia and to develop new products, such as frozen urchin roes.

Based on the results of the project´s dredge surveys and research of urchin populations, a management plan was made for the first time for the sea urchin fishery in Iceland. Marine & Freshwater Research Institute has given advice to the Icelandic Ministry of Industries and Innovation about the maximum allowable catch within the investigated area to make the fishery sustainable. Minimum landing size of the urchin was decided as well as the size and weight of the dredge used was limited.

The research institutes involved in the project have all increased their institutional capacity through cooperation and knowledge sharing. Some partners had minimal experience with sea urchins and thus benefited greatly from knowledge exchange. For instance, Greenlandic partner adapted Icelandic fishing method and Irish partner successfully re-seeded urchins and tested a roe enhancement diet developed by Norwegian partner. All project´s reports are available at URCHIN´s website.