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

latimes.com

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

#21

Post by telharmonium »

nradov wrote: 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 also wondered if the recent success of sea otter conservation efforts would be in conflict with abalone restoration. However, there seems to be evidence that, at least in the case of black abalone, abalone thrive in habitats where sea otters have been re-introduced[1]. One proposed mechanism for this is that sea otters prefer to eat sea urchins over abalone[2], and keeping the sea urchin population in check improves the overall health of the kelp forests which abalone need to survive.

[1] https://futureoftheocean.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/sea-otters...

[2] https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/blogs/animal_blog/of-ot...

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

#22

Post by jboggan »

nradov wrote: post #19
organicdude wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not nearly inedible, just not commercially practical for the effort versus the amount of meat inside. I prefer their taste over the commercially sold reds, they are sweeter in a wider range of seasons. Purple uni crushed up with soy sauce is the perfect sauce for sheephead sashimi.

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

#24

Post by smackay »

cartothemax wrote: post #20

If you are looking for a way to make a difference in protecting the abalone. Ruby for Good has a project that is helping conservation efforts https://github.com/rubyforgood/abalone

And utterly predictable - and nice to see - there is also https://pythonforgood.org/

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

#25

Post by daotoad »

jboggan wrote: post #22
nradov wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not nearly inedible, just not commercially practical for the effort versus the amount of meat inside. I prefer their taste over the commercially sold reds, they are sweeter in a wider range of seasons. Purple uni crushed up with soy sauce is the perfect sauce for sheephead sashimi.

Spread this information to any sushi chefs you know. The opportunity to help sustainable fisheries by eating puple urchins into obscurity is huge. It's what our economic system is best at.

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

#26

Post by dghughes »

dfsegoat wrote: post #7

Nitpicking the title: The article title says "abalone" which can mean any of several species here in California: The article is concerned with WHITE abalone making a comeback [2]. These are "Critically Imperiled" per their species status. RED abalone are doing fine in California [1] with an "Apparently Secure" species status, and Cal Dept of Fish & Game will close down fishing when they need to, in order to allow for…

It's just the title the actual article mentions efforts to repopulate all types (colours) of abalone.

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

#28

Post by giardini »

teh_klev wrote: post #17
ropiwqefjnpoa wrote: post #3

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…

teh_klev says". 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."

But anything cooked in garlic butter is utterly delicious! The abalone is merely a carrier for the hot garlic butter.

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

#29

Post by nradov »

daotoad wrote: post #25
jboggan wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not nearly inedible, just not commercially practical for the effort versus the amount of meat inside. I prefer their taste over the commercially sold reds, they are sweeter in a wider range of seasons. Purple uni crushed up with soy sauce is the perfect sauce for sheephead sashimi.

Spread this information to any sushi chefs you know. The opportunity to help sustainable fisheries by eating puple urchins into obscurity is huge. It's what our economic system is best at.

By "inedible" I didn't mean that purple urchins taste bad necessarily (acquired taste). It's just that shelling them takes so much work that it's not worth the effort for chefs. There are millions and millions all along the coast; convincing a few people to eat them won't make a dent in the population.

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

#30

Post by pvaldes »

nradov wrote: post #19
organicdude wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Purple Sea urchins are an appreciated "connoisseur" dish in all Southern countries of Europe. They are really, really good in fact, with a fine flavour and soft taste, but only when in season, when they feed on the appropriate algae and when taken from a clean source.
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