Abstract

The white sea urchin, Tripneustes ventricosus, is common in shallow coastal waters of the tropical Atlantic, and is widely distributed in the Caribbean. This species is short-lived with a maximum life span of 2 - 3 years. It reaches sexual maturity in one year at around 6 - 7cm test diameter. T. ventricosus supports small scale commercially important seasonal fisheries in several islands in the eastern Caribbean including St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada and to some extent, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and harvesting typically begins in September to October. Methods of harvesting may vary among the islands but generally fishers collect both male and female urchins by free-diving. Despite significant management and conservation efforts by some countries, sea urchin population abundance has declined locally. Management approaches range from command-and-control regulation by governments to community-level responsibility. Management tools include closed seasons and even complete closures, minimum size and limited licensing. Understanding the large fluctuations in local population size and implementing sound management practices in the sea urchin fisheries is critical to the sustainable use of this resource in the future, and would benefit enormously from a sharing of information and management experiences. To this end we have attempted to synthesise past and current research and information on this species. Past research has focused mainly on the ecology, life history, fishery characteristics and management of the species, whilst limited information also exists on genetic population structure. Current research is focused on governance and investigation of social-ecological networks within the sea urchin fishery.

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