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The Seabed Harvester mini-ROV is revolutionising sea urchin harvesting

Until now, diving has been the normal method of fishing for sea urchins, but in the future, divers could be replaced by ROVs. Trials of the mini-ROV "Seabed Harvester", which has been developed by Sperre AS in collaboration with the Norwegian company 7S-Technology, have shown that  this could be a new method of sea urchin fishing.

Seabed Harvester is a prototype that has been built to harvest sea urchins and shellfish such as scallops and cockles. Sea urchin roe is very popular, and is among the best-paid seafood products in the world. Today, divers harvest wild sea urchins directly from the sea, and these are then fed until they are ready for the market. In collaboration with a sea urchin producer, the Nofima research group has carried out full-scale trials of the mini-ROV in an area where sea urchins are already being commercially harvested. Two divers also took part in the test, in order to evaluate the relative efficiency of the ROV.

“Comparison of the results showed that the ROV has a lot of potential, and it can certainly be operated more efficiently as operators acquire more experience. But we still need to test the ROV under a wider range of conditions,” says senior scientist Sten Siikiavuopio of Nofima to forskning.no. Experienced divers can harvest significant quantities of sea urchins in the course of a day, and several previous tests have shown that this method is more efficient than other types of fishing gear. But diving does have its limitations. It requires a great deal of resources, and it can be risky.

“A mini-ROV will be less dependent on the season of the year, current conditions, depths and other factors that limit diving. We also avoid the need to have people in the water, which reduces the risks involved. All the same, this method does require a high level of operational and maintenance expertise, not to mention faulty searches.“ says Siikavuopio.