SECRETARY KAWAMURA ANNOUNCES CERTIFICATION OF SEA URCHIN COMMISSION

Divers and handlers vote for assessment for promotion and research

SACRAMENTO – CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura has announced the certification of the California Sea Urchin Commission, which will assess divers and handlers of the commodity for the establishment of promotion and research programs.
The commission was formed following a vote of industry members. State law requires a 40 percent turnout of eligible voters and a 65 percent favorable vote. Both thresholds were met.
Divers and handlers will be assessed one cent per pound in the first year, with an option held by the commission to increase the assessment rate to as much as three cents. In recent years, an average of 13 million pounds of sea urchin has been harvested annually along the California coast.  
Sea urchin is used mainly as a sushi ingredient. It is a wild resource sought mostly along the Los Angeles-Santa Barbara and Sonoma-Mendocino coastlines.  

   
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