The committee on environment and communication matters has before it an inquiry on climate-related marine invasive species.

Warming temperatures in Tasmania's seawaters over the past century have brought with it the proliferation of the long-spined sea urchin, which has destroyed kelp habitat for other marine creatures, particularly abalone and rock lobster.

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True South Seafood has harvested more than 2000 tonnes of sea urchins over the past five year.

Company chief executive Mark Allsopp in a submission to the committee said as water temperatures increased, so would recruitment of sea urchins from waters off NSW.

"Therefore, building a strong force of commercial divers to increase catch effort is the most logical management strategy," he said.

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Mr Allsopp said while management initiatives had enjoyed some success, recent research by the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies suggested urchin biomass had not been decreased to any extent.

He said the species posed a significant threat to temperate reefs and recreational and commercial fisheries.

"More than $100 million of annual abalone production alone is at risk," Mr Allsopp said.

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Seacare representative and recreational diver, Simon Brooks, said the last marine heatwave extreme event in the summer of 2015-16 destroyed the last of the giant kelp forest on the Tasman Peninsula.

Urchinomics advisor Alvara Maz said the population explosion of sea urchins had decimated the world's most productive kelp forests on the East Coast.

He said after destroying the kelp forests and collapsing its dependent food chain, urchins drew down on their energy reserves stored in their roe sacs and starved

"As a result of years of starvation, the urchins have little or no roe in them, making them unattractive for predators to eat or for humans to catch and make into sea urchin roe," Mr Maz said

Urchinmonics moves urchins from the barrens and rehomes them in land-based facilities where they are fed to grow their roe.

Mr Maz said this process in turn helps with kelp forest restoration.

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