Once little exploited by commercial fishermen, urchin harvesting began in earnest in the mid-1980s. After reaching a peak in 1993, harvests declined to less than one-tenth of that in the peak year, with the total value falling in step.
As urchins became scarce, the price per pound has tripled from the peak harvest year of 1993.
Urchin Landings 1964-2016
Urchin Price per Pound 1964-2016
| YEAR | POUNDS | VALUE | PRICE/LB |
| 1964 | 120,908 | $3,377 | $0.03 |
| 1965 | 126,047 | $2,987 | $0.02 |
| 1966 | 142,995 | $4,193 | $0.03 |
| 1967 | 110,565 | $2,908 | $0.03 |
| 1968 | 82,700 | $3,180 | $0.04 |
| 1969 | 80,972 | $5,700 | $0.07 |
| 1970 | 60,200 | $3,512 | $0.06 |
| 1971 | 52,105 | $4,225 | $0.08 |
| 1972 | 49,610 | $3,837 | $0.08 |
| 1973 | 128,398 | $9,078 | $0.07 |
| 1974 | 46,725 | $3,365 | $0.07 |
| 1975 | 41,973 | $2,752 | $0.07 |
| 1976 | 36,094 | $2,234 | $0.06 |
| 1977 | 57,402 | $7,328 | $0.13 |
| 1978 | 7,974 | $859 | $0.11 |
| 1979 | 3,008 | $306 | $0.10 |
| 1980 | 33,300 | $2,391 | $0.07 |
| 1981 | 3,656 | $420 | $0.11 |
| 1982 | |||
| 1983 | |||
| 1984 | 50,790 | $4,056 | $0.08 |
| 1985 | |||
| 1986 | |||
| 1987 | 1,440,161 | $236,391 | $0.16 |
| 1988 | 6,221,604 | $1,758,805 | $0.28 |
| 1989 | 9,425,926 | $3,608,475 | $0.38 |
| 1990 | 13,458,662 | $6,045,618 | $0.45 |
| 1991 | 20,535,411 | $11,158,425 | $0.54 |
| 1992 | 26,437,638 | $15,148,449 | $0.57 |
| 1993 | 41,625,409 | $26,816,313 | $0.64 |
| 1994 | 38,296,612 | $33,083,336 | $0.86 |
| 1995 | 34,268,592 | $35,604,275 | $1.04 |
| 1996 | 25,743,011 | $28,778,169 | $1.12 |
| 1997 | 19,489,013 | $21,256,800 | $1.09 |
| 1998 | 15,053,868 | $17,072,498 | $1.13 |
| 1999 | 15,435,286 | $20,300,142 | $1.32 |
| 2000 | 12,897,897 | $17,739,333 | $1.38 |
| 2001 | 10,048,198 | $12,969,562 | $1.29 |
| 2002 | 6,321,232 | $7,657,398 | $1.21 |
| 2003 | 5,962,668 | $8,569,109 | $1.44 |
| 2004 | 5,741,945 | $7,865,930 | $1.37 |
| 2005 | 3,517,048 | $5,142,213 | $1.46 |
| 2006 | 3,371,761 | $4,741,065.00 | $1.41 |
| 2007 | 2,765,778 | $4,377,512.00 | $1.58 |
| 2008 | 3,058,114 | $5,645,829 | $1.85 |
| 2009 | 3,486,741 | $5,866,376 | $1.68 |
| 2010 | 2,591,516 | $5,489,826 | $2.12 |
| 2011 | 2,407,074 | $5,113,355 | $2.12 |
| 2012 | 1,903,922 | $5,024,329 | $2.64 |
| 2013 | 1,987,929 | $5,781,216 | $2.91 |
| 2014 | 1,981,390 | $5,325,438 | $2.69 |
| 2015 | 1,953,954 | $5,397,952 | $2.76 |
| 2016 | 2,057,694 | $6,615,808 | $3.22 |
Source: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/commercial-fishing/landings/documents/urchin.table.pdf (accessed February 6, 2018)