822,000 pounds of sea urchin were landed in San Diego in 2006 making it our largest truly local fishery.

Catalina Offshore is the only buyer in San Diego, other than divers occationally selling directly to sushi restaurants. Catalina Offshore processes the sea urchin by opening it, removing the five pieces of roe, and placing them on trays for use as sushi. Most of the sea urchin they sell is shipped to other parts of the country and world. Catalina Offshore was started over 25 years ago by a local sea urchin diver.

The entire contents of a sea urchin are edible, but most people only eat the roe. The blackish part of the sea urchin's insides is edible kelp.