How One Farm Raises the Rarest, Most Expensive Mollusk in America Vendors
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Date: 2026-03-07
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Comments and reviews: 20
ChristopherKuhns
The First Nation indigenous peoples of the California coast harvested abalone as a primary protein source. They used pry bars fashioned from whale rib bones and undoubtedly some type of hard wood. The foot adductor attachment was cut from shell using crude simple flaked stone with sharp edges. The muscle meat was pounded/tenderized using beach cobbles pounded on a portable anvil stone with flat surface. Its believed that they were smoked or sun dried with salt for preservation. The pounding with stone created grit in the food and that's why coastal peoples teeth were ground down flat otherwise they had straight teeth with no cavities. They did suffer though from dental infections like alveolar abscesses/tooth loss. Harvesting was primarily low/minus tides but not always. Crania have been found displaying external auditory exostoses aka surfers/swimmmers ear. Prolonged exposure to cold sea water and wind cause the ear canal to form bony growths that if left untreated will completely fuse and individual will be stone deaf. These are the extreme examples that have been found from California and interestingly the Peruvian coast( similar cold ocean currents ) to northern and central California. People were diving for abalone and other shellfish probably blindly groping in subtidal zones.
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The First Nation indigenous peoples of the California coast harvested abalone as a primary protein source. They used pry bars fashioned from whale rib bones and undoubtedly some type of hard wood. The foot adductor attachment was cut from shell using crude simple flaked stone with sharp edges. The muscle meat was pounded/tenderized using beach cobbles pounded on a portable anvil stone with flat surface. Its believed that they were smoked or sun dried with salt for preservation. The pounding with stone created grit in the food and that's why coastal peoples teeth were ground down flat otherwise they had straight teeth with no cavities. They did suffer though from dental infections like alveolar abscesses/tooth loss. Harvesting was primarily low/minus tides but not always. Crania have been found displaying external auditory exostoses aka surfers/swimmmers ear. Prolonged exposure to cold sea water and wind cause the ear canal to form bony growths that if left untreated will completely fuse and individual will be stone deaf. These are the extreme examples that have been found from California and interestingly the Peruvian coast( similar cold ocean currents ) to northern and central California. People were diving for abalone and other shellfish probably blindly groping in subtidal zones.
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davidhart4682
Spent many hours spear fishing ling cod, Red Snapper, Cabazone and Black rock fish along the north CA coast. Ft. Bragg, Albion, Mendocino, Monastery Beach. The Pinnacles off Monastery Beach was a great ling cod location. We encountered a Great white wider than our 15 ft Zodiac while diving once there. During our surface intervals we would get our 7 in Red abalone and scallops especially when the seas were calm. Getting into the caves was heaven. Walls filled with them. If we were over the limit for scallops we ate them in the zodiac with crackers and wasabi. We'd have a party on Monday nights after a weekend at least once a month. It was a production line getting all the stuff we caught cooked and served. Those were great times in the 80's and 90's.
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Spent many hours spear fishing ling cod, Red Snapper, Cabazone and Black rock fish along the north CA coast. Ft. Bragg, Albion, Mendocino, Monastery Beach. The Pinnacles off Monastery Beach was a great ling cod location. We encountered a Great white wider than our 15 ft Zodiac while diving once there. During our surface intervals we would get our 7 in Red abalone and scallops especially when the seas were calm. Getting into the caves was heaven. Walls filled with them. If we were over the limit for scallops we ate them in the zodiac with crackers and wasabi. We'd have a party on Monday nights after a weekend at least once a month. It was a production line getting all the stuff we caught cooked and served. Those were great times in the 80's and 90's.
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eater
I miss Abalone diving since the red tide killed a lot of the abalone near Fort Ross and people overfished in 2018. I hope you guys can release some of your growing abalone to replenish natural areas so they can Thrive again also I'm surprised you can sell abalone that size when diving for Abalone there was a limit and sizing regulations to pick while leaving the smaller to grow. I'm also surprised you were taking the wild kelp that feeds the wild abalone. It seems like the last time I went diving out there around 2018 there was thousands of thousands of sea urchins I have been eating the kelp and overpopulated the seafloor. I miss Abilene diving the main part was enjoying the beautiful underwater world.
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I miss Abalone diving since the red tide killed a lot of the abalone near Fort Ross and people overfished in 2018. I hope you guys can release some of your growing abalone to replenish natural areas so they can Thrive again also I'm surprised you can sell abalone that size when diving for Abalone there was a limit and sizing regulations to pick while leaving the smaller to grow. I'm also surprised you were taking the wild kelp that feeds the wild abalone. It seems like the last time I went diving out there around 2018 there was thousands of thousands of sea urchins I have been eating the kelp and overpopulated the seafloor. I miss Abilene diving the main part was enjoying the beautiful underwater world.
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Cyrribrae
Hm. Is the kelp harvesting sustainable It would make sense if the machine could break the kelp partway up rather than pulling up the whole stalk, cuz then it could keep growing. But just thinking about how starfish and sea urchins have been decimating some california kelp forests - and it's a problem because they eat them from the bottom, so they're dead from the first bite. Maybe that overall situation has changed or is less of a concern I know it grows quickly, but yea. Just asking cuz one of the problems with farming fish, for example, is that a lot of the fish feed is still wild-caught fish. So just curious about sustainability of feed, and how they mix wild kelp vs red seaweed.
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Hm. Is the kelp harvesting sustainable It would make sense if the machine could break the kelp partway up rather than pulling up the whole stalk, cuz then it could keep growing. But just thinking about how starfish and sea urchins have been decimating some california kelp forests - and it's a problem because they eat them from the bottom, so they're dead from the first bite. Maybe that overall situation has changed or is less of a concern I know it grows quickly, but yea. Just asking cuz one of the problems with farming fish, for example, is that a lot of the fish feed is still wild-caught fish. So just curious about sustainability of feed, and how they mix wild kelp vs red seaweed.
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mlaiuppa
Farmed abalone are actually cleaner than any from the ocean, unlike farmed fish which are dirty and diseased. I sent for some abalone overnighted to make a birthday dinner for my parents. My Mom still talks about that dinner. Abalone used to be plentiful up and down the coast. Then they were gone. Overfished, kelp forests destroyed by sea urchins which ran rampant when the sea otter population dropped to endangered. With the recovery of the sea otters the sea urchin population was checked and the kelp forests are recovering. But it may never be like it was.
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Farmed abalone are actually cleaner than any from the ocean, unlike farmed fish which are dirty and diseased. I sent for some abalone overnighted to make a birthday dinner for my parents. My Mom still talks about that dinner. Abalone used to be plentiful up and down the coast. Then they were gone. Overfished, kelp forests destroyed by sea urchins which ran rampant when the sea otter population dropped to endangered. With the recovery of the sea otters the sea urchin population was checked and the kelp forests are recovering. But it may never be like it was.
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AndrewEvrard-oc8ig
I left without seeing them wild, Anacapa from a boat Scuba cert & the Puget Sound, there be whales too! John’s Pass drift dive in 1989, the S. wall supported 12-15 Abs/sq M. of our local Pinks.
I hosted a crew of friends for an amazing drift and not one Abalone, zero in 1997. Same wall.
A little research and: Dive charters out of Anacortes put 20 divers in, two charter town.
In 3 years of this & John’s pass was depleted of the species and DFW closed the fishery down.
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I left without seeing them wild, Anacapa from a boat Scuba cert & the Puget Sound, there be whales too! John’s Pass drift dive in 1989, the S. wall supported 12-15 Abs/sq M. of our local Pinks.
I hosted a crew of friends for an amazing drift and not one Abalone, zero in 1997. Same wall.
A little research and: Dive charters out of Anacortes put 20 divers in, two charter town.
In 3 years of this & John’s pass was depleted of the species and DFW closed the fishery down.
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justpcozz
What an education and my thanks to you all. The first time I tasted this succulent mollusk was in Sacramento in the early 1970's when diver friends gifted me a package of cleaned, sliced and pounded steaks. That time was my first education about abalone then I tasted it a few times later for lunch, ala almondine at Aldo's Restaurant. Nobody else offered it then while my free diving friends later told they couldn't harvest any more until 2036. Sad back then for weekend recreational divers.
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What an education and my thanks to you all. The first time I tasted this succulent mollusk was in Sacramento in the early 1970's when diver friends gifted me a package of cleaned, sliced and pounded steaks. That time was my first education about abalone then I tasted it a few times later for lunch, ala almondine at Aldo's Restaurant. Nobody else offered it then while my free diving friends later told they couldn't harvest any more until 2036. Sad back then for weekend recreational divers.
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60Airflyte
Growing up in the 60s and 70s our neighbor was a diver and he’d always bring us abalone. My mom cut it thinly, pounded it, lightly dusted it in flour, and fried it in butter. It was so delicious. I think she served it with toasted almonds but I can’t remember. When I was an adult I’d order it at a restaurant called Bella Vista near or in Woodside, California. That was in the 90s, maybe early aughts. Then abalone disappeared from menus everywhere.
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Growing up in the 60s and 70s our neighbor was a diver and he’d always bring us abalone. My mom cut it thinly, pounded it, lightly dusted it in flour, and fried it in butter. It was so delicious. I think she served it with toasted almonds but I can’t remember. When I was an adult I’d order it at a restaurant called Bella Vista near or in Woodside, California. That was in the 90s, maybe early aughts. Then abalone disappeared from menus everywhere.
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rickkatz4692
There used to be an abalone farm outside of Cayucos California called The Abalone Farm Inc. It was the largest land-based marine aquaculture facility in North America producing 100 tons a year of the red abalone. It operated from the late 60s to 2020, The site has been transitioned into a new facility for research and conservation under Harmony Coast Aquaculture.
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There used to be an abalone farm outside of Cayucos California called The Abalone Farm Inc. It was the largest land-based marine aquaculture facility in North America producing 100 tons a year of the red abalone. It operated from the late 60s to 2020, The site has been transitioned into a new facility for research and conservation under Harmony Coast Aquaculture.
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normhal4908
As a child, my parents would take us to Morro Bay. We would always eat Abalone Rolls at a fancy restaurant that has now changed hands many times. Stuffed with all sorts of seafood and a cream sauce, this is the only place Ive ever seen Abalone Roll on the menu, and I have never found a recipe online. Great memories with my family long gone.
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As a child, my parents would take us to Morro Bay. We would always eat Abalone Rolls at a fancy restaurant that has now changed hands many times. Stuffed with all sorts of seafood and a cream sauce, this is the only place Ive ever seen Abalone Roll on the menu, and I have never found a recipe online. Great memories with my family long gone.
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eater
The Red Abalone Haliotis rufescens reaches around 12 inches max. size and is the biggest of the all Family, counting around 70 species in the world. Others known farms: New Zealand South Island, for the species Haliotis iris. Here we produce 1/2 pearls, introducing a nucleus between the mantle and the shell = Aragonite.
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The Red Abalone Haliotis rufescens reaches around 12 inches max. size and is the biggest of the all Family, counting around 70 species in the world. Others known farms: New Zealand South Island, for the species Haliotis iris. Here we produce 1/2 pearls, introducing a nucleus between the mantle and the shell = Aragonite.
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leannaerickson9745
I have not been a vegetarian all my life, only the last 50 years. It's wonderful that people are making abalone culture sustainable, but since I don't consume any dead animals, my question is, what happens to those beautiful empty shells Are the discarded made commercially available to the public
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I have not been a vegetarian all my life, only the last 50 years. It's wonderful that people are making abalone culture sustainable, but since I don't consume any dead animals, my question is, what happens to those beautiful empty shells Are the discarded made commercially available to the public
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naclh2opro
What they don't tell you is the Abalone farms are responsible for the demise of abalone in the 1980's.
They introduced an invasive virus from S. Africa while experimenting with abalone aquaculture projects.
Anyone question this: Look up Withering Foot disease and Sabellid Polychaete Worm Abalone.
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What they don't tell you is the Abalone farms are responsible for the demise of abalone in the 1980's.
They introduced an invasive virus from S. Africa while experimenting with abalone aquaculture projects.
Anyone question this: Look up Withering Foot disease and Sabellid Polychaete Worm Abalone.
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ryan_in_indiana
I asked the volunteers at a marine science center what abalone eat. They had no clue; however, when I brought out a bag of cheerios from the kids' snack bag they said I could not see if the abalone would try them.
Not a lot of marine science going on at the marine science center these days.
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I asked the volunteers at a marine science center what abalone eat. They had no clue; however, when I brought out a bag of cheerios from the kids' snack bag they said I could not see if the abalone would try them.
Not a lot of marine science going on at the marine science center these days.
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cartman4885
So I'm 67 and as a kid in the 60's we would go to Morro Bay a few times a year and we eat Abalone and I remember a place on the bay that processed Abalone and they would dump the shells right off the dock so we would get some shells and believe me they were a lot bigger like 8 to 12 inches
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So I'm 67 and as a kid in the 60's we would go to Morro Bay a few times a year and we eat Abalone and I remember a place on the bay that processed Abalone and they would dump the shells right off the dock so we would get some shells and believe me they were a lot bigger like 8 to 12 inches
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husky500cr
My dad and uncle used to scuba dive for abalone right off Southern California in the 1960s. They would come home with huge abalones. You can't do this nowadays. They were over fished. My uncle's wife was from Japan, and she would take one out of the box and eat it right there with a knife.
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My dad and uncle used to scuba dive for abalone right off Southern California in the 1960s. They would come home with huge abalones. You can't do this nowadays. They were over fished. My uncle's wife was from Japan, and she would take one out of the box and eat it right there with a knife.
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l-wolverine2211
Abalone today is still farmed raised all around the world, since wild abalone is mostly endangered, and is on the Redlist, at least until 2036. California abalone is about $100 per pound, and isn’t the only state that farm raises Abalone, as they’re also farms in Alaska & Hawaii
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Abalone today is still farmed raised all around the world, since wild abalone is mostly endangered, and is on the Redlist, at least until 2036. California abalone is about $100 per pound, and isn’t the only state that farm raises Abalone, as they’re also farms in Alaska & Hawaii
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dwightlooi
LOL. Chinese abalone farming is 10, 000 times the scale with 1/10th the labor cost.
Large abalones are about $3 a pound or the egg sized ones are about three for a dollar.
With free trade you'll all be out of business and it will be another one of everything we import.
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LOL. Chinese abalone farming is 10, 000 times the scale with 1/10th the labor cost.
Large abalones are about $3 a pound or the egg sized ones are about three for a dollar.
With free trade you'll all be out of business and it will be another one of everything we import.
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Todd-w6u
I was on an excavation in San Diego proper, Middletown, Hillcrest area. I dug up an old dump site which was full of Abalone Shells. One I found was about the size of a Shoebox! Thick and very heavy! The property we were on was an area of old San Diego from about 110 yrs ago!
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I was on an excavation in San Diego proper, Middletown, Hillcrest area. I dug up an old dump site which was full of Abalone Shells. One I found was about the size of a Shoebox! Thick and very heavy! The property we were on was an area of old San Diego from about 110 yrs ago!
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seacal7946
Calif Abalone diver since the early ninety's here, these folks are doing it right. Now I snatch up the invasive purple sea urchins that are killing the kelp beds, the primary food source for Abs. I still see many big abalone when diving, perhaps they are making a comeback
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Calif Abalone diver since the early ninety's here, these folks are doing it right. Now I snatch up the invasive purple sea urchins that are killing the kelp beds, the primary food source for Abs. I still see many big abalone when diving, perhaps they are making a comeback
reply
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