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Alwin Hylkema on De Nieuws BV on culturing sea urchins in Caribbean reefs
Sea urchins play a crucial role in maintaining the health of Caribbean coral reefs because they graze on algae that could otherwise overgrow coral. In the 1980s, sea urchins died en masse, with dire consequences. The population is still not up to par, although the average sea urchin lays some 17,000,000 eggs.
Researchers from Wageningen University and Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences developed a method to raise sea urchin larvae. Those larvae are released at Saba, and the first results are hopeful, says marine ecologist Alwin Hylkema.