URCHIN FISHERMEN KING OF THE SEA : DIVE BOATS ACCOUNT FOR THE NO. 1 CATCH IN CALIFORNIA WATERS.

Byline: Kenneth Howe San Francisco Chronicle 

As Erik Owen broke open the shell of the red sea urchin and scooped out a quivering glob of spleenish yellow roe, I wondered how this spiny sea creature could have become California fishermen's most lucrative catch.

As I swallowed the eggy mass, observing the still-waving spines of the eviscerated animal, the question lingered, much like the salty-sweet aftertaste of the urchin.

The answer is that the Japanese desire for sea urchin roe as sushi - actually, what is eaten are the gonads - is bringing California fishermen in excess of $22 million a year, according to the California Department of Fish and Game. That figure places the value of the sea urchin fishery above squid, and almost twice the value of either the Dungeness crab or salmon catch.

And it is providing fishermen like Owen a handsome living. Owen fishes out of Point Arena in Mendocino County, which bills itself as the sea urchin capital of Northern California. (Ventura, Los Angeles and San Diego are far larger urchin fisheries, however.) Strict regulations and bad weather limit Owen and the state's other 519 urchin fishermen to about 90 days of fishing a year. But by hauling up 1,000 pounds a day and getting on average $1 a pound, Owen can bring in revenues of $80,000 to $90,000.

``This is a great job,'' Owen grinned, standing at the throttle of his 24-foot boat, the Aimless Wanderer, as it bounced over the swell off Point Arena. ``When you work, you work hard, and the rest of the time you're off.''

Fishermen dive for urchin along the coast in water that ranges from waist deep to more than 70 feet. Wearing thick wet suits to protect them from water as cold as 45 degrees at lower depths, they fish the kelp beds that urchins favor. For air, the divers rely on what's called a hookah system: a compressor on board pumps air through a 300-foot tube to a mouthpiece.

Swimming along the bottom, divers use a short, two-tined rake to pull the urchins off the bottom and deposit them in the large net baskets. When the baskets hold 100 to 200 urchins - each weighing three-quarters of a pound to 1-1/2 pounds - the diver shoots compressed air into a float device and brings the load to the surface.

``This is very demanding work,'' said a cold and exhausted Steve Johnson, a diver who works on Owen's small boat. He and Owen chugged out of Point Arena at 7:30 a.m. and returned at 4:30 p.m., having worked without lunch or a break, hauling up 2,300 pounds of urchin worth roughly $3,500.

Free-lance divers such as Johnson, a former spear fisherman, keep 75 percent of the value of what they catch, giving 25 percent to the boat owner.

Urchin fishing is a dangerous undertaking. Fishermen must carefully monitor their dive times and depths to avoid nitrogen narcosis and the bends. They must make sure their compressors aren't pumping down carbon monoxide, which has killed several divers. They must worry about surges that can drive them onto rocks. And they must keep a watchful eye on predators.

Owen's best friend was killed a few years ago by a great white shark as he was diving near Tomales Bay. Owen himself narrowly escaped from a great white when the shark attacked a harbor seal that was swimming just above him.

Although winter storms tend to keep fishermen in port, divers will fish whenever they can this time of year. That's because prices for urchin roe jump during the New Year celebrations in Japan. Divers who may get 60 cents to 80 cents a pound in the summer can earn $1.50 to $2.25 a pound in winter.

Unloaded from the boats to trucks at the dock in the evening, the sea urchins are driven to a cleaning and processing company in Santa Rosa. The next day the roe is shipped via air freight to Japan, where prices for the delicacy run upward of $200 a pound.

``I'll work any Christmas I can,'' said Owen, his wet blond beard sticking out from around the edges of his neoprene hood. Owen, who used to fish for crab and whose father was an abalone fisherman, has specialized in urchin for more than a decade.

Sea urchin was not always a lucrative fishery. In the 1960s, divers smashed urchins with hammers because the animals competed for food with abalone. The Department of Fish and Game even approved quick lime poisonings. But in the early 1970s, the fishery grew thanks to exports to Japan. By the mid-1980s, when fishing expanded to Northern California, the industry exploded and fisherman brought in 80 million pounds of Strongylocentrotus franciscanus a year in California.

``At that time, a gold rush mentality prevailed,'' said Bill Pettigrew, Harbor Master for Point Arena. Divers would describe coming across so-called blackout areas, where the sea floor was covered with the spiny creatures.

Overfishing sent the urchin haul plummeting. In 1987 and again in 1992, the Department of Fish and Game stepped in to place limits on the length of the season, the minimum size of urchin that could be caught and the number of licenses available.

Since then, the number of pounds of urchin landed annually has continued to decline each year. It's unclear whether urchins are being overfished - just as sardines, and squid have been - or whether other factors are at play.

``My sense is that it's not in danger of being fished out,'' said John Duffy, senior marine biologist for the Department of Fish and Game.