Sea Urchins - Springtide Seaweed

Maine Farmed Sea Urchins/Uni
We are the only fully integrated farmed green sea urchin producer in the USA. As the largest seaweed farmer in Maine, we produce a custom seaweed blend to feed our urchins, producing uni of exceptional color, texture, and taste.
Live Maine Green Sea Urchins!
As the largest organic seaweed farm we produce an amazing variety of seaweeds-- the stuff urchins love to eat! We have developed a propriety blend of "urchin food" that assures quality uni. Urchins are shipped live and individually packaged. They are of exceptional quality and taste. This is a truly unique product.

Urchins are shipped live and individually packed.
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Dried Uni Powder
Our amazing urchins are freeze dried to create a unique product- powdered sea urchin (uni) . Enjoy the flavor of fresh uni in pastas and your other favorite dishes. Packed in 25 gram jars.
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Product Information & Whitepaper
Learn Important Product Details
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Why are Springtide Seaweed's
Sea Urchins the Best Choice

Feature
Product Consistency & Quality
Environmental Impact (Ecological)
Supply & Seasonality
Control & Management (Logistics)
Economic Viability
Springtide Seaweed, LLC
With Sea Hedgehog Express™
Highest & Year-Round Predictability. Roe (uni) quality, color, and flavor are enhanced by feeding proprietary organic kelp. Crucially, the Sea Hedgehog Express™ ensures the live product remains in a pre-reproductive state during transit, guaranteeing a rich texture and sweet flavor upon arrival.
Actively Positive & Restorative.
Ranching: Removes 'barren' urchins from destructive urchin barrens to fatten them, aiding kelp forest recovery.
The operation is USDA Organic and utilizes regenerative, low-carbon practices.
Stable & Year-Round Supply. Production is managed to ensure reliable, high-quality uni outside the wild season. The Sea Hedgehog Express™ is key to their year-round distribution, ensuring consistent, fresh product delivery.
Maximum Control via Technology. Full control over feeding, growth, and quality in contained systems. The Sea Hedgehog Express™ is their proprietary live urchin shipping system, which prevents the urchins from becoming reproductive during transit, an issue that can ruin product quality.
Consistent High-Value Product & Brand Premium. Converts low-value urchins into high-value product in 6-12 weeks. The Sea Hedgehog Express™ allows them to charge a premium for guaranteed, year-round, top-tier quality and reliable logistics, enabling a more stable, full-time economic model.
Wild Harvest
Seasonal & Highly Variable. Roe quality depends on natural diet, season, and wild spawning cycles. Quality is often lost if urchins become reproductive during transport or holding, leading to inconsistent product. Many urchins are harvested under salmon farming pens, so urchins are eating fish farm waste which includes colorants.
High Risk of Depletion & Habitat Damage. The fishery has a history of depletion and is in a state of collapse.
Drags/Dredges: Can physically damage the sensitive rocky seafloor habitat, a practice common in Maine.
Limited & Highly Regulated Seasonality. Supply is restricted by fishing seasons, weather, and the natural reproductive cycle, forcing closures (e.g., typically closed May-August).
Low Control. Quality is purely a factor of the wild environment and timing. Traditional live shipping methods face the risk of product degradation due to stress and temperature fluctuations.
Risk of Diminishing Returns & Market Volatility. Viability is challenged by depleted stocks, seasonal restrictions, and the risk of poor quality due to factors outside the fisher's control.
Controlling the sea urchin's diet is the primary factor that Springtide Seaweed uses to enhance the color, flavor, and texture of the uni (roe/gonads)
to meet gourmet standards.
Here is a breakdown of how the kelp-based diet affects the uni's quality:
Color and Pigmentation
The desired color for high-quality uni is a vibrant golden yellow to bright orange-red. This color is determined by the concentration of carotenoid pigments stored in the roe.
Farm Control: Sea urchins are herbivores, and their roe color directly reflects the pigments in their diet. Wild urchins often eat a mixed, unpredictable diet, leading to duller colors. By feeding a specific, organic kelp diet (which is a core part of Springtide's operation), the farm ensures a high intake of the necessary carotenoids, resulting in a consistent, vibrant, and marketable color.Wild Variability: Wild urchins that have depleted their local food sources (like those in urchin barrens) are often "barren" themselves, meaning they have small, pale, or watery gonads with poor color, making them low-value.
Flavor and Texture
The goal of sea urchin aquaculture is to produce uni with a rich, oceanic, sweet, and umami flavor profile and a firm, creamy texture.
Sweetness and Umami: The delicate flavor of uni is closely linked to its concentration of free amino acids (FAA).
Sweetness is derived from amino acids like glycine and alanine.
Umami (savory flavor) is derived primarily from free glutamic acid.
The controlled kelp diet ensures the urchins are getting the specific macro- and micro-nutrients needed to convert stored energy into high concentrations of these flavorful amino acids in the roe.
Texture and Firmness (Gonad Index): In the wild, uni quality fluctuates throughout the year. Aquaculture ensures a consistently high Gonadosomatic Index (GSI), meaning a large amount of firm, high-quality roe relative to the body size.The specialized diet is formulated to rapidly "fatten" the roe, giving it the desired firm-but-creamy texture and a high yield, which is critical for market acceptance
By using their own farmed, organic kelp as a premium, controlled feed, Springtide Seaweed essentially guarantees the gourmet quality that the market demands, removing the unpredictability inherent in wild-caught supply.

Maine Farmed Sea Urchins/Uni

We are the only fully integrated farmed green sea urchin producer in the USA. As the largest seaweed farmer in Maine, we produce a custom seaweed blend to feed our urchins, producing uni of exceptional color, texture, and taste.

Live Maine Green Sea Urchins!

Dried Uni Powder

Product Information & Whitepaper

Learn Important Product Details

Why are Springtide Seaweed's Sea Urchins the Best Choice

Feature

Springtide Seaweed, LLC

With Sea Hedgehog Express™

Wild Harvest

Controlling the sea urchin's diet is the primary factor that Springtide Seaweed uses to enhance the color, flavor, and texture of the uni (roe/gonads)

to meet gourmet standards.

Here is a breakdown of how the kelp-based diet affects the uni's quality:

Color and Pigmentation

Flavor and Texture

By using their own farmed, organic kelp as a premium, controlled feed, Springtide Seaweed essentially guarantees the gourmet quality that the market demands, removing the unpredictability inherent in wild-caught supply.

Why are Springtide Seaweed's
Sea Urchins the Best Choice