Sea urchin aquaculture is expanding to meet demand for sea urchin roe, raising welfare questions about handling, crowding, and killing methods for these echinoderm animals.
Sea urchin welfare sits in an area of scientific uncertainty. Unlike fish and cephalopods whose sentience evidence is substantial, echinoderms have nervous systems organized very differently from those associated with subjective experience in more studied animals. Current evidence does not strongly support complex sentience in sea urchins. However, precautionary welfare consideration suggests minimizing overcrowding and handling stress, and developing humane killing methods as standard industry practice while the science develops.