Sea urchin goes from pest to taste sensation

A TASMANIAN seafood business which processes and exports a new gourmet product while also helping rid the East Coast of a destructive marine pest is a winner in the annual delicious produce awards.

Wild Southern Seas plucks the long-spined sea urchins from the waters between Dunalley and St Helens, where it has damaged the sea bed, then processes the roe at Ralph’s Tasmanian Seafoods facility at Electrona, packages it and sends it to Japan and throughout South-East Asia.

The company’s niche product has now been recognised in this year’s delicious produce awards, named a Tasmanian winner in a list of the nation’s besttasting primary produce.

“For years, people said the roe from this sea urchin was not palatable, but we have now firmly proved that it is actually delicious,” said Dave Allen, of Wild Southern Seas.

Removing the roe from the sea urchin shell is a labour-intensive process.

Between 40 and 50 people are employed to process the urchin and for every tonne of urchins collected, just 80kg of product is recovered.

“We use an old Japanese technique and it is very labour intensive, but proving worth the effort,” Mr Allen said.

The delicious produce awards recognise “consistently outstanding Australian ingredients grown, caught, sourced or produced with dedication, passion, knowledge and regard for the environment.”

State winners are invited to send their product to the national judging in Sydney in May, with Australian winners named on August 13.

Other Tasmanian winners were: DAIRY: Elgaar Farm Fresh Organic Milk, Tasmanian Butter Co Cultured Sea Salted Butter, Tongola Cheese. EARTH: Hill Farm GMFree Cold-Pressed Canola Oil, Miellerie Leatherwood Honeycomb, Meru Miso Sweet Red Miso, Tunnel Hill Oyster Mushrooms, Wellington Apiary Leatherwood Pure Tasmanian Honey and Weston Farm Smoked Paprika PADDOCK: Huon Valley Berkshires Certified Free Range Berkshire Pork, Littlewood Lamb, Pounsley Park Quail Eggs, Springfield Deer Farm Venison. SEA: Tasman Sea Salt 100% Natural Tasmanian Sea Salt Flakes, Wild Southern Seas ‘A’ Grade Salt Water Uni.