Kina numbers have exploded as we’ve eaten too many of their predators – like big snapper and crayfish – that usually keep them in check. The urchins munch through kelp and seaweed, leaving bare rock and little else. The kina themselves end up suffering too – they persist in these zones as zombies, eating little and barely producing any roe. Luckily, these barrens can be reversed and kelp forests restored when the kina are removed.

Kina-nomics involves taking starving kina off reefs, fattening them up and selling them to an East Asian market. But how can the kina be made more consistently tasty? And can economic and conservation goals really align? Listen to the episode to dive under the water with a kina harvester, taste some kina, and untangle whether a commercial harvest of these spiky taonga can really fix kina barrens.

Learn more:

• • Read the accompanying New Zealand Geographic article by Kate Evans, with photography by Richard Robinson.

• • Listen to previous episodes of Voice of Tangaroa.

• • Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRADIO or wherever you listen to your podcasts

Voice of Tangaroa is a joint production between RNZ’s Our Changing World and New Zealand Geographic. Reporting for this series is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. You can learn more and read the articles for free at nzgeo.com/seas