OoNee Sea Urchin Ranch is an Oregon Coast aquaculture business dedicated to sustainably harvesting, ranching and processing wild purple sea urchin. The team includes divers, researchers and technologists working to develop innovative ways to build scalable seafood systems that sustainably adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change on the Oregon Coast.
Why purple sea urchins you ask? Wild purple sea urchin overpopulation has been a growing issue as coastal waters continue to get warmer. The warm waters both impede kelp reproduction and greatly reduce the population of the urchin’s natural predator: the sunflower sea star. This combination of factors allowed for a large growth in sea urchin population, which resulted in the decimation of kelp forests along the Oregon Coast which are critical for many other marine species.
To combat this, Oo-Nee’s team of divers harvest the urchins off the Southern Oregon Coast. The urchins are then brought to a controlled aquaculture system they developed at the Yaquina Lab in Newport, where they feed the urchins a diet that allows them to fatten and develop into the high-quality uni desired in restaurants.
With early support from O2IH’s Blue Economy Incubator fund, Oo-Nee Sea Urchin Ranch was able to purchase equipment needed for their aquaculture system, rent their facility space, and receive the necessary licensing and tax support to start and grow their business.
O2IH is proud to support an innovative local business and is happy to see Oo-Nee continue to grow and excel in this space. Oo-Nee recently won the 2025 Flywheel Pitch Competition – securing over $200,000 to continue their advancements in sea urchin ranching technology which include the development of a modular ranching unit.
Oo-Nee’s work not only helps restore Oregon’s underwater ecosystems but also contributes to a growing blue economy on the coast by creating jobs, reducing ecological pressure, and bringing Oregon-grown uni to global markets.
Learn more at https://www.oo-nee.com/