Sea urchin harvesting: the MurFor project at Porto Conte

The final meeting of the MUrFor (Managing Sustainable Sea Urchin Fishery and Marine Forest Conservation) consortium—an international research project dedicated to the sustainable management of sea urchin harvesting and the conservation of marine forests—will take place in Porto Conte (Tramariglio) from October 28th to 30th. The schedule is as follows: October 28, 9:30–18:00; October 29, 9:30–13:00 and 14:30–16:30; and October 30, 10:00–17:00.

Funded under the Biodiversa+ program (https://www.biodiversa.eu/), MUrFor brings together scientific partners from Italy, Spain, France, and Germany to address one of the primary challenges facing Mediterranean rocky coastal environments: reconciling the conservation of macroalgal communities with the long-term survival of sea urchin populations and the social and economic sustainability of fishing activities. The participating institutions include: the University of Sassari; the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn; the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer); the University of Kiel; the Institute for the Study of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in the Marine Environment of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-IAS); the University of Barcelona; and the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes, part of the Spanish National Research Council (CEAB-CSIC).

Sea urchins play an important ecological role as herbivores; furthermore, certain species support artisanal fisheries that hold both cultural and economic significance. Their populations are subject to multiple, interconnected pressures, including harvesting, climate change, predation, and shifts in habitat conditions. Effective management, therefore, requires an integrated approach that simultaneously considers ecological, social, and economic dimensions.

The MUrFor project focuses primarily on two distinct Mediterranean settings: Sardinia and Catalonia. To gain a deeper understanding of the processes affecting sea urchin populations and their habitats, the research team integrates long-term ecological data, field surveys, population studies, socioeconomic analyses, stakeholder interviews, and ecosystem modeling.

One of the project’s core elements is the development of an integrated resource management framework, based on three complementary thresholds: the conservation status of marine habitats, the long-term viability of sea urchin populations, and the economic sustainability of fishing activities. Assessing these aspects collectively aims to support management strategies that balance the protection of marine ecosystems with the sustainable use of resources. A significant portion of the meeting will be devoted to discussions with stakeholders, including public authorities, marine protected areas, research institutions, fishing industry organizations, and environmental associations.

The final day will focus specifically on the context of Sardinia. Scientific presentations will be followed by a participatory workshop based on the Atlantis ecosystem model, which will be used to compare various management scenarios and explore potential solutions for achieving a balance between ecological conservation and the sustainability of fishing.