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Can the long-lost abalone make a comeback in California?

latimes.com

11–20 of 34 posts

Re: Can the long-lost abalone make a comeback in California?

#13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think there's any saltwater invertebrate that isn't delicious when breaded and deep fried.

Wholly agree. Although I may take a pass on these guys if the opportunity presented itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_isopod ::shudders:: Edit: Update... Well somebody went there: https://soranews24.com/2014/03/12/dinner-is-served-get-your-...

Is it really that different from a crab or a langoustine?

It does look alarmingly like a woodlouse/pillbug, but I'd guess the meat is quite similar.

Re: Can the long-lost abalone make a comeback in California?

#14

These things sound delicious.

They are really tough and you need to pound the crap out of it. There are Asian restaurants where you can give a wink or secret handshake and get native abalone. Mostly Chinese IIRC. The Asian poachers were busted on a wildlife show I’ve watched and they are contributing to the problem. I heard about the Chinese restaurants in California from food blogs and other shows.

Re: Can the long-lost abalone make a comeback in California?

#15
post #14

These things sound delicious.

They are really tough and you need to pound the crap out of it. There are Asian restaurants where you can give a wink or secret handshake and get native abalone. Mostly Chinese IIRC. The Asian poachers were busted on a wildlife show I’ve watched and they are contributing to the problem. I heard about the Chinese restaurants in California from food blogs and other shows.

I saw a Chinese guy getting busted in NorCal he had hidden the abalone in the hub caps of his car tires. Think old Chevy ones that were like a big bowl.

This is the tragedy of the common resource, people always cheat. There will be no more fish in the sea. See the Canadian maritime fishing industry for exhibit A. They Take all the fish until there are no more and then try to find something new to do maybe, or maybe just do nothing.

Re: Can the long-lost abalone make a comeback in California?

#16
post #9

Good article but it didn't mention predation from sea otters. At one point otters were almost hunted to extinction for their fur, and that allowed abalone populations to flourish. Now sea otters are protected and have stable populations in some areas so they're back to eating a lot of the abalone.

I think sea otters also play another critical role in California's ecosystem.

Sea urchins eat kelp forests. Sea otters eat sea urchins. Abalone live in kelp forests.

So I think that when sea otters are alive, then there are more kelp forests, which leads to more abalone net...even if sea otters are eating abalone.

Re: Can the long-lost abalone make a comeback in California?

#17

These things sound delicious.

When I visited New Zealand's Stewart Island in 2005 to stay with my brother's in-laws (who run a sea food business there) I had the pleasure of a home cooked dinner of locally dive caught abalone and my own line caught blue cod. The abalone was cooked in garlic butter and was utterly delicious. I'm not really a huge fan of things that live in shells in the sea, but I could certainly get used to abalone.

Afterwards I was told that the (fairly sizeable) portion of abalone I'd consumed would have cost US$150+ in a US restaurant. I nearly fell off of my chair.

Re: Can the long-lost abalone make a comeback in California?

#18
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are really tough and you need to pound the crap out of it. There are Asian restaurants where you can give a wink or secret handshake and get native abalone. Mostly Chinese IIRC. The Asian poachers were busted on a wildlife show I’ve watched and they are contributing to the problem. I heard about the Chinese restaurants in California from food blogs and other shows.

I saw a Chinese guy getting busted in NorCal he had hidden the abalone in the hub caps of his car tires. Think old Chevy ones that were like a big bowl. This is the tragedy of the common resource, people always cheat. There will be no more fish in the sea. See the Canadian maritime fishing industry for exhibit A. They Take all the fish until there are no more and then try to find something new to do maybe, or maybe j…

Yea I’ve seen Chinese fisherman in Florida taking anything they catch. I mean anything their net or pole catches. Fish, not fish, invertebrate, even oyster toadfish. I wanted to see how they cook it all but some of the stuff was not legal.

Re: Can the long-lost abalone make a comeback in California?

#19
post #9

Good article but it didn't mention predation from sea otters. At one point otters were almost hunted to extinction for their fur, and that allowed abalone populations to flourish. Now sea otters are protected and have stable populations in some areas so they're back to eating a lot of the abalone.

I think sea otters also play another critical role in California's ecosystem. Sea urchins eat kelp forests. Sea otters eat sea urchins. Abalone live in kelp forests. So I think that when sea otters are alive, then there are more kelp forests, which leads to more abalone net...even if sea otters are eating abalone.

The purple sea urchins which are currently destroying California's kelp forests are nearly inedible. They aren't the same urchin species that people eat in sushi. There's very little actual meat under the shell. Sea otters will only eat them when there's nothing else available.
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