The Sea Urchin Fishery: Harvesting, Processing and the Market.

This paper examines the North American sea urchin fishery, with a particular focus on the Japanese wholesale market. After a brief history and discussion of biology, methods of harvesting are discussed, followed by an overview of processing, handling, and transportation links. An econometric model of price determination in the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market is developed and estimated. The model reveals important mechanisms governing prices of imported product; in particular, the interconnections between the domestic and imported markets, the role of household income variation, and the importance of quality, which varies within the season but out of phase in each of the two major supply regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]