Eat the problem: sea urchin pest-to-plate funding urged

Sea urchins cause widespread environmental destruction but have become a favourite with foodies. (Nadir Kinani/AAP PHOTOS)

For years, thorny underwater critters have been chewing their way through kelp and other plant material, leaving behind nothing but bare rock.

Straying much further south than their native habitat in NSW as ocean temperatures warm, the "Centro" long-spined sea urchin has become a notorious pest wreaking havoc on southern reefs.