Commercial fishermen will be allowed to harvest and sell sea urchins from Gippsland's Corner Inlet in a bid to improve seagrass habitat at a crucial wetlands biodiversity site.

The Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Park, a Ramsar-listed site, has become overwhelmed by the native purple-spined sea urchins.

Last year, volunteers culled more than 57,000 of the creatures in Corner Inlet.

But even that has not been enough to curb their enthusiasm for the seagrass.

It has led to a unique partnership between conservation bodies and the fishing industry who both have a stake in the issue.

No reason for spike in numbers

Parks Victoria's acting manager for South Gippsland, Gerard Delaney, said authorities were at a loss to explain the recent rise in the urchin's population.

But he said the surge in numbers had put the biological diversity of the area in danger because they have strayed from their usual diet.

It has created large areas of bare ocean floor called "urchin barrens".

"They are a native species so we still want them to remain, but what we do want is that localised removal of those urchins," Mr Delaney said.

The partnership with the seafood industry may be the best way to tackle the problem.

"Hopefully we can get this real win-win situation," Mr Delaney said.

"The urchins are in very large numbers so there's no issue of them being over-harvested.

Volunteers culled 57,000 sea urchins at Corner Inlet in 2017, but their numbers are still growing. ( Supplied: Parks Victoria )

"There still will be enough urchins remaining within the broader Corner Inlet."

But he cautioned that it would not be a free-for-all.

"There's still very tight constraints on it. We'll be monitoring pre and post the harvests and how successful they are," Mr Delaney said.

Parks Victoria is still planning another cull for later in the year, depending on the success of the commercial harvest.

"If we don't get the result we want we still need to ensure we protect those sea grasses," Mr Delaney said.

Urchin on the menu

Michael Hobson is a fifth-generation fisherman from Port Albert and also runs a local seafood restaurant.

He has been part of the planning discussions for the project and said "it's about solving this ecological problem more that out of a significant financial gain".

"The commercial fisherman are pretty adaptable so any small investment that they'd have to make to go and harvest the urchins wouldn't be huge," he said.

But he said it was a much improved way of dealing with the issue compared to the old ways.

"Normally we compartmentalise issues and give specific responsibilities to different departments, but it's a far more effective approach to bring all the players to the table and to be able to create solutions," Mr Hobson said.

"It's a really cost-effective way of dealing with an ecological problem.

"We can actually provide the man-power to go and get those urchins without it costing the public. Everyone wins out of this."

Mr Hobson said he was also keen to serve up the results of the catch.

"I'd love to see sea urchins on the menu in the restaurant. It'd be fantastic for the general public to be able to access that resource," he said.



