Editorial: Tackling a prickly subject

Finally, a good news story, and one that gives hope for similar initiatives, not only in Malta but also beyond. Aquatic Resources Malta has managed to breed sea urchins and hope to release them back into the wild in the future.

The dwindling number of sea urchins over recent years has been dramatic. Their population was for some time able to resist the pressures of fishing, but climate change was another thing altogether. For example, rising sea temperatures and increasing the amount of salt in the sea resulted in more disease, killing off huge numbers of the spiky herbivores.

Why does it matter? The answer is simple: as with most species, removing one element creates an imbalance which threatens the whole ecosystem.

In Malta, for example, if you take away the sea urchins, algae takes over, smothering seagrass meadows and reefs. Sea urchins also provide food for 18 fish species.

As with many other things, the first step is to overcome denial: acknowledging a problem spurs efforts to find solutions. The first way to tackle this decline was made in 2023 when the environment ministry imposed a two-year moratorium on gathering sea urchins. It was a success – with the population increasing by as much as 60% in the surveyed locations – so much so that it was extended last July for a further two years.

In the meantime, Aquatic Resources Malta started to look at ways to replenish the population. They started by harvesting adult sea urchins and improving their diet and environment.

By October, the team managed to spawn some 100,000 larval sea urchins at their headquarters in Fort San Luċjan in Marsaxlokk.

The scientists behind the project, including Adrian Love and Andrew Mallia, have their feet firmly on the ground: the odds in nature mean that vast majority of eggs die. Breeding them in a lab, they hope, will eventually raise this rate to as high as 30 per cent – although they appreciate that this is most unlikely within the first few cycles.

They are, however, hopeful that the results will steadily improve with time and experience.

To give you an indication of the challenges that they face, Malta would be only the second Mediterranean country to successfully breed sea urchins, following in the footsteps of the University of Corsica in France.

The two-pronged approach – reducing the threats and providing a helping hand to replenish the population – is working, not only for sea urchins but for numerous other species in various places around the world.

It is proof that environmental conservation programmes do not only slow down biodiversity loss but can even start to reverse it.

The alarm bells have been ringing for a while: conservation agencies report that more than 44,000 species are at risk of extinction, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature warning that their loss would have serious repercussions on ecosystems. They are what keep the fragile balance on our planet, ensuring everything from clean water to food and medicines.

The first step is to counter denial, overcome inertia and raise awareness. Unfortunately, there is too much background noise that drowns out these successes.

Rather than arguing about whether climate change exists or not, or pointing the finger of blame at one culture or another, we need to take action.

Let us focus on finding solutions instead of what caused a problem. That is the only way to protect our island and the sea around it, inspiring others to follow in our footsteps.