Consuming sea urchins could aid in the protection of California's kelp forests.

The Mendocino Coast Purple Urchin Festival, held in June 2021, brought together community members, chefs, and scientists to address the pressing issue of the destruction of kelp forests in the region. The event, which will return in June 2026 in Fort Bragg, California, featured cooking demonstrations, educational events, and urchin-focused restaurant specials.

The festival was a platform to showcase the documentary Sequoias of the Sea and shed light on the decimation of sea star populations due to sea star wasting syndrome, which has allowed purple sea urchins to proliferate. In recent years, scientists have found 60 times more kelp-munching purple sea urchins than normal, contributing to the rapid degradation of Mendocino County's coastal ecosystem.

Tristin McHugh, the kelp project director at The Nature Conservancy, stated that the ocean is nowhere close to being back to a completely healthy and restored ecosystem. Sheila Semans, executive director of the Noyo Center for Marine Science, is aiming to get everyone in town to try purple sea urchins for the environment. Eating purple sea urchins is part of a local conservation effort, with chefs at the Harbor House Inn, Little River Inn, and Izakaya Gama using them in their dishes as part of the conservation effort. However, they rely on local divers or harvest them on their own due to the lack of an established method of harvesting them for restaurants.

The Noyo Center for Marine Science offers a volunteer science program for community members to participate in beach surveys and beach cleanups. Nearly 50,000 pounds of purple urchins have been collected through partnerships involving various organizations for conservation efforts.

Marine heatwaves, climate change, and El Niño have also contributed to the degradation of Mendocino County's coastal ecosystem. To combat this, scientists have partnered to make data about changes in the kelp canopy along California's coast available through the Kelpwatch website.

Kammerer, a chef, hopes that every bite of purple urchin served is a step toward restoring the kelp ecosystem. The festival, with its interactive components like an educational event at the Noyo Center for Marine Science that teaches kids how to build a coastal ecosystem model using magnets, is a testament to the community's commitment to conservation.

Despite a slight increase in kelp since 2020, the problem is far from over according to scientists. Between 2014 and 2019, about 95% of the area's bull kelp vanished. The Harbor House Inn's restaurant in Elk, California serves locally harvested seafood, including purple sea urchins, as part of the local conservation effort. The proceeds from the event were shared with the Noyo Center for Marine Science.

The Mendocino Coast Purple Urchin Festival is a shining example of a community coming together to address environmental issues. As the festival prepares for its return in 2026, the hope is that the efforts will continue to make a difference in restoring the region's coastal ecosystem.