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| Hello again! Sorry for the wait! |
Hello, science enthusiasts! Hello,
animal lovers! Hello, conservationists! Here's part one of your fifth
stream of bubbles containing interesting information from this little
corner of the California coastline. I'm Shelby, and I'm here to offer
some insight on the health and function of some of the most important
features of Northern California's coastal ecosystems.
The next topic I want to discuss is a
bit of a doozy; in order to bring things into perspective, I'd like
to talk about how abalone fit into our
ecosystem. I've already gone into how they fit into theirs; now it's
important to explain their importance to us, and how we've interacted
with them throughout history. Personally, I care about abalone
because I think they're cool, and because they're living creatures.
But, not everyone feels that way. Sometimes it takes a more selfish
approach to convince people to care about something. So, maybe if I
can communicate how society has benefited from—and unfortunately
mistreated—the abalone fishery, it will motivate some people to
care more about something they might have not before.
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| Looks tasty, right? You'd never know you were eating the foot of a sea snail. Source:https://www.thespruceeats.com/pan-fried-abalone-2217263 |
This
is kind of a big topic, so I'm going to split it up into three parts.
In this first part, I'm going to give you a very, very abridged
timeline of the abalone fishery in California. I'm doing it this way
because there is a lot of information in this history, and I don't
want to straight up cut and paste to fill up a page. This will
probably be my driest post, since it's pretty much just straight up
facts. I will definitely include sources in case anyone is curious
about more details.
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| Hopefully the pictures will keep you entertained enough to read this history lesson |
I. The
commercial abalone fishery
- Pre-Colonial California: Many coastal Native American tribes made use of abalone, as both a food source and for their shells (used for decorations and trade). They were limited in their abalone harvesting, most likely having to wait until low tide to take them.
- 1850: Fur hunters have all but decimated the sea otter populations in California, leaving some abalone populations without predators. They then expand their range.
- 1850s: The first commercial abalone fisheries are founded by Chinese Americans.
- 1879: The green and black abalone fisheries reach their landing peak.
- 1900: The first regulations on commercial fisheries are placed
- 1901: The first size limits are placed in the form of a universal minimum of 15 inches in circumference for all abalone harvested.
- 1909: More regulations are put in place, including the need for commercial licenses, gear restrictions, and controlled seasons and areas.
- 1913: The green and black abalone fisheries close. Since these are exclusive to southern California, abalone harvest efforts move north.
- 1916 to 1935: Abalone landings peak at 3.9 million pounds, then decline to 164,000 pounds during the internment of Japanese Americans.
- 1943: The southern Californian fisheries are reopened to help with wartime efforts to stock up on food.
- 1949: The commercial abalone fishery is closed from San Francisco to the Oregon border.
- 1957: A second landing peak is reached at 5.4 million pounds.
- 1969: The fishery starts its rapid decline
- 1996: The commercial fishery sees an all time low of 229,500 pounds in successful landings. This year, the commercial fishery is closed statewide, forever.
- Dates on landing receipts:
- 1942 to 1951: The fishery sees a dramatic increase in landings
- 1952 to 1968: The fishery has stable landings
- 1969 to 1982: The fishery sees a huge drop in successful landings
- 1983 to 1996: Gradual, steady decline in successful landings
Recreational ab divers often use boogie boards or kayaks to carry their bags. Source: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/9058818-181/california-poised-to-extend-abalone The recreational abalone fishery
- 1911: The recreational fishery gets its first regulation in the form of established seasons.
- 1913: A limit of 10 abalone per bag is established
- 1931: The requirement of a recreational license is established for all abalone species.
- 1953: The northern California fishery limits recreational take to breath-hold diving only. This was done in the hope free diving would limit people to the shallows, protecting abalone living in deeper water.
- 1993: The black abalone recreational fishery is closed
The only one you can eat anymore is on the far right. Source: https://www.marinebio.net/marinescience/06future/abspdiv.htm 1996: The green, pink, and white abalone recreational fisheries are closed
This is what you'd have to get if you wanted to fish for abalone. Source: http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=75968 1998: The abalone stamp—a mandatory report card people need to buy and report on when they dive for abalone—is established. This is done to replace the revenue originally brought in by commercial abalone fishing.
- 2005: The Abalone Recovery and Management Plan is adopted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
- 2008: A tagging system is put in place to combat poaching and to monitor populations.
- 2014: A limit of 3 abalone per dive is established, with a yearly limit of 18.
- 2016: The recreational abalone fishery is closed until further notice
Whew! That was a lot of information,
I know, but background is important. This context should make it a
bit easier to see how we got to where we are with the abalone,
besides looking at the “perfect storm” of climate change effects.
We've used these animals over, and over, and over again, without much
consideration for their health. Kind of goes against the idea of
wanting to use a resource, right? But I'll go more into this later.
Next week, I'll go more into the
reasons this history happened the way it did, how responsible
management was not used, and
how that caused the fishery to ultimately fail. I will also go more
into the economic contributions abalone made to California while the
fisheries were still in place.
Stay
curious.
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| "Tuna" in next week for more! |
Sources: http://www.reefcheck.org/reef-news/an-in-depth-look-at-abalone-part-ii-a-brief-history-on-abalone-fisheries-and-regulations
https://www.marinebio.net/marinescience/06future/abhist.htm
Abalone Recovery and Management Plan, Chapter 3: History and Socio-economics of the fishery (pdf download)
Picture Sources: http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=75968
https://www.marinebio.net/marinescience/06future/abspdiv.htm
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/9058818-181/california-poised-to-extend-abalone
https://californiaoutdoors.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/how-to-measure-abalone-correctly-to-avoid-a-ticket/
http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt5199n7c0&chunk.id=d0e1694&brand=calisphere&doc.view=entire_text
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