The Business of Abalone
By Jesús C. Ruiz
Abalone is a member of the Phylum Mollusca, a gastropod marine shellfish
whose relatives include clams, scallops, octopuses and squid. Abalone are
herbivores and reproduce through external fertilization. The external top
shell is commonly known as Mother of Pearl. Abalone have a large muscular
foot used for movement and adhering to surfaces. The meat from this muscular
foot is a delicacy highly prized by Epicureans. In North America, abalone
is found only on the Pacific Coast, Alaska to Baja Mexico. Their concentration
is in California and consists of seven species: the Red Abalone, the Black,
Flat, Pink, White, and Green Abalone. However, this natural geographical
distribution of abalone has taken a drastically different landscape in
the last twenty years.
Commercial Harvesters
In the early 1950’s, California commercially harvested four to five million
pounds (1,800 to 2,300 metric tons) of wild abalone annually. Nearly all
of the United States abalone consumed was harvest from California. By 1995,
the commercial abalone landing declined to 262,000 pounds (119 metric tons)
less than 10% of the abalone harvested in 1975. As the world demand for
abalone rose, the supply declined with the depleting wild abalone fisheries.
Annual harvests continued to exceed the rate of re-population for all species,
resulting in a dramatic decline in the abalone fishery. California commercial
abalone harvesters landed their share of the market, mainly from Southern
California. The explosive growth of the industry in the early 1960’s led
to exploitation of the richest abalone beds in the world, Morro Bay. In
the late 1960’s the industry collapsed in Morro Bay, and the commercial
abalone harvesters moved north, until they come upon the sea otters. By
1996, the total harvest was only 5% of the all time high, and only the
red abalone was commercially allowable. In 1998, the California Department
of Fish and Game (CDFG) closed the whole commercial industry of wild abalone
as the industry crashed.
Sea Otters
California sea otters are four to six feet long, weigh up to 100 pounds
and reside near kelp beds along the shore. Their favorite food is abalone,
but also eat clams, crabs, mussels, and sea urchins among other marine
life. Sea otters may eat as much as a quarter of their body weight daily.
They were thought to be extinct since 1831, but 300 were rediscovered in
1938. In 1977, California sea otters were designated a threatened species
under the Endangered Species Act. Now, they are also protected under the
Marine Mammal Protection Act. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS),
in accordance with Public Law 99-625, is in charge of enforcing Point
Conception as a southern containment boundary for sea otters. They have
no specified northern boundary. The USFWS stopped enforcing the southern
boundary in 1993, so the sea otters continued their southerly march,
devouring the shell fisheries, in particular the abalone and sea urchins.
By 1995, sea otters had peaked in number at 2,377. They decimated the invertebrate
stocks within their designated "otter zone," as they moved
South. Sea otters and commercial abalone harvesters met over an exhausted
abalone fishery north of Morro Bay.
Aquaculture
As the worldwide supply of wild abalone beds continued to decline, the
industry turned to aquaculture, the cultivation of abalone in aquatic farms.
Scientists have identified the chemical signals that induce abalone to
spawn, and for the larvae to metamorphose. After a week in the spawning
tank, the larvae are transferred into a nursery tank for six months and
feed off diatoms. At six months the seed abalone are placed in bins
and into grow-out tanks on land, or cages in local municipal harbors. Depending
on the desired size and market, the abalone is harvested within 27 to 39
months. While in the tanks and cages, the abalone require a constant bath
of clean sea water, and weekly feedings of kelp. Barring any "acts
of God," pollution, natural contamination, diseases, parasites, and natural
predators, the abalone is successfully harvested and sold at wholesale
for $25 a pound, and up to $68 in the retail market.
Sabellid
Six years ago, there were 17 commercial abalone operations receiving
"seed abalone" from the same providers. One of the abalone farmers reported
that the shells of his native stock abalone were deformed, domed instead
of flat, amorphous, crumbly and lacking respiratory holes. Upon investigation,
they discovered that all his stock was infested with an invading microscopic
worm. The worm, found in the stock of all 17 abalone farms, is suspected
to have been imported with South African abalone. The worm, Sabellid, set
off an epidemic, causing grave financial losses and putting at least one
abalone operator out of business. Marine life off the coastal waters of
Morro Bay, near one of the infected abalone farms, was found to be contaminated
with Sabellid. Volunteers were recruited to cull the affected waters of
aquaculture debris and over 1.5 million infected snails. The worm has not
been detected in the last two years, and the science community is claiming
a successful first in the eradication of a well-established marine pest.
Presently, there are 13 abalone farms operating in the State of California.
Withering Syndrome
In 1985 off southern California, commercial abalone divers, working the
near-shore waters of Santa Cruz Island, reported finding large numbers
of sick and dying abalone. Initially, limited to black abalone, the affected
abalone were severely shrunken inside their shells. These weakened abalone
could not maintain their normal grip on the rock substrate, and large quantities
of empty shells indicated massive die-off. "Withering Syndrome" is the
term coined to describe this malady. Signs of the malady include progressive
atrophy of the foot muscle, weakness, weight loss, lethargy, little
response to touch, and eventual starvation. Within a few years, Withering
Syndrome spread to abalone along the entire California coastline south
of Pt. Conception, and into Mexico. Worse, the malady infected the green,
pink, red abalone, as well as blacks. Withering Syndrome is the terminal
phase of a bacterial infection. "Rickettsia-like Procaryote" (RLP) is a
newly found bacterium. The RLP bacterium infects the digestive system of
the abalone. When RLP sufficiently develops, the abalone slowly starves
to death, even in the presence of an abundant food supply. Once abalone
exhibit the visual signs of Withering Syndrome, they will expire within
a few months.
Withering Syndrome is responsible for reducing the black abalone of
southern California's populations by more than 99%, and led to the closure
of the black abalone fishery throughout the State. Black abalone
became a candidate species for endangered status under the Endangered Species
Act and the green abalone may soon follow suit. In southern California,
an intense recreational and commercial abalone fishery existed, until closure
in 1997 on an emergency basis. Recent surveys at San Miguel Island found
Withering Syndrome in about 10% of the red abalone examined at some locations.
Developments in southern California suggest that the causative agent of
Withering Syndrome may be as devastating over time to red abalone as it
has been for the Black.
RLP was found to exit in northern California aquaculture facilities
and at two locations in the wild. In 1998, CDFG realized that they had
been authorizing the transfer of RLP infected abalone from southern California
to northern California aquaculture facilities. Inspection of abalone from
California's aquaculture facilities quickly confirmed RLP infested facilities
from southern California up to the Oregon border. CDFG began limited
surveys of wild abalone populations to determine the rough geographical
distribution of RLP. Those surveys found that wild abalone infected with
RLP, had progressed to Withering Syndrome as far north as San Francisco.
North of San Francisco, two of six sites surveyed were found to be positive
for RLP in wild red abalone. In August 1998, CDFG banned shipments of RLP
infected abalone seed from southern California to facilities north of San
Francisco. The singularly remaining facility north of San Francisco,
began lobbying for a lift on the ban, claiming economic ruin. Lifting the
current ban seems intuitively to increase the risk of Withering Syndrome
spreading throughout northern California's premier abalone fishery. At
issue is, will the lifting of the ban contribute farther to a widespread
infection of RLP, creating an increased risk and likely threat to this
north coast natural resource? On February 3, 2000, proponents for lifting
the ban convinced the California Commission on Fish and Game to lift the
ban. Thereafter, 6400 RLP-infected abalone were shipped from Southern California
to a singular Northern California commercial facility. Now, what was an
RLP-free nursery facility in Crescent City has been infected with RLP and
is pumping untreated effluent into the ocean. According to a letter dated
February 8, 2000, circulated by the Director of the California Department
of Fish and Game, the ban on shipment of RLP-infected abalone north of
San Francisco was re-imposed following the shipment of these 6400 RLP-infected
abalone.
Ground Zero
Northern California’s remaining abalone represents about 17% of the State’s
original abundant resource. An annual 20,000 recreational freedivers and
15,000 shore pickers visit the northern coast for red abalone. Sea
otters, which are not restricted to a northern boundary, have been sighted
in these abalone rich northern sectors, but as of yet have not settled
in northern California. RLP has been found in Van Damme State Park. The
Park is in the heart of the recreational abalone diving Mecca in northern
California. One of sixty abalone tested from Van Damme State Park has been
found infected with RLP. The presence of RLP at Van Damme is believed to
be the result of a single out-planting five years ago. Van Damme could
be ground zero for a northern Withering Syndrome epidemic, which would
totally decimate the northern California red abalone. Barring commercial
harvesting, sea otters, and massive poaching, the future survival of California’s
last remaining abalone may well rest on science’s purging the RLP infestation,
and on the public’s resolve to save this valuable resource.