species
25 protected sea urchins illegally taken at Marsaskala
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A person was caught with 25 dead sea urchins despite the collection ban, which runs until July 2027.
Police and ERA officers stopped a person in Marsaskala on 30 August 2026 who had allegedly collected 25 protected purple sea urchins. The animals had already died. ERA says the case will go to court.
Collecting wild sea urchins in Malta has been banned since 2023, after surveys found very few left. The ban now runs until 7 July 2027. Monitoring at 10 sites found numbers rising at about six of them, with many young urchins, but recovery is slow and uneven.
Sea urchins graze rocky shores and help keep them in balance. You can report suspected illegal collection to ERA on 2292 3500.