Sea urchins are harvested globally for their roe, with growing evidence of their nociceptive capacity raising welfare questions about handling and killing methods.
Sea urchin welfare sits at the frontier of invertebrate welfare science. Their relatively simple neural organization compared to vertebrates does not preclude welfare-relevant responses: they withdraw from noxious stimuli, have nociceptors, and show behavioral responses to damage. The scale of harvest and the largely unstudied nature of echinoderm welfare means billions of potentially sentient animals are handled and killed with no welfare consideration. Applying a precautionary approach while welfare science develops is the most defensible position.