Sea urchin aquaculture is growing to meet demand for uni in Japanese and international cuisine. Welfare science for these echinoderms is emerging alongside commercial development.
Sea urchin welfare sits at the frontier of invertebrate welfare science. The evidence for urchin sentience is less compelling than for cephalopods or crustaceans, but the precautionary principle applies as production scales. Farmed urchins experiencing poor water quality, overcrowding, or inappropriate conditions show physiological stress indicators that suggest at minimum a welfare-relevant state. As sea urchin aquaculture develops to meet growing culinary demand, embedding basic welfare considerations in production standards from the start is more achievable than retrofitting them later.