Abalone anyone...?

[DFC5343]

The most common down south were the blacks. They lived in the tidal zone and we used to get them at low tide even. The greens were the next level and could be had from the tidal zone to bout 60ft. Then the most sought were the reds. They were at 40-100 ft. The pinks kinda overlapped the red zone but were less available on the mainland meaning the islands were the habitat. Then you had the white abs....soooo good but hard to find and deep. All in all growing up in SoCal I could get my limit of 5 in no time and still chase bugs and fish. I had some pics somewhere of a few hauls. I can say now that even on the islands they are rare. The days of the "hubcap" abs are gone...atleast down here.

 

[John H. Moore]

Jeesh, DFC5343, you really should stop picking on those baby lobsters... can't you find some your own size to fight with??

[nice bugs!]

 

[Drewpy]

You guys are correct-Only north of the Golden Gate! My error and sorry for posting some false info! My buddy was the more experienced and he was more up to speed on the regulations -I should have checked before posting.
Pulwee - funny you should mention the shark issue-You cant help but have it in the back of your mind as you float on the surface in very low vis! On one of my decents I got bumped by a gray harbor seal-man that got my heart pumping for a few moments...
He was a cute little guy and hung around for the rest of the time hopeing for some handouts I suppose.

Thanks again guys for the corrections-my bad!

 

[SlurrySeal]

You and I must have the same job, I've got to get back to annoying reactionary liberal divers who don't know anything about the environment they're diving in! ;-)

-Lance

 

[drbill]

For those of you like PhotoTJ who have yet to see an abalone. here's a shot of a green from about 15 ft in the Casino Dive Park. I've got tons more pix, but they're on my other computer.

If I had any, I'd show you a picture of a great abalone burger that used to be $0.50 at Rosy's in the end of the pier.

Dr. Bill

 

[OCdiving Deb]

For Nor Cal:
California Department of Fish and Game
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 03:0112 Nov. 26, 2003

Contact:
Jerry Kashiwada, Marine Biologist,
(707) 964-5791

Carrie Wilson, Marine Region, (831) 649-7191

California's Recreational Abalone Fishing Season Ends Nov. 30

The abalone recreational fishing season is scheduled to close on Sunday, Nov. 30, and punch cards are required to be turned in by the end of the year, the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has announced.

The seasonal closure affects recreational fishing for red abalone which can only be taken north of San Francisco. The open season is split, running from April to June and then from August through November. The month of July is closed to the sport take of abalone. The daily bag limit for abalone is three, with 24 allowed to be taken per year.

As in past years, DFG requires fishermen to turn in abalone punch cards (also known as abalone report cards) which help scientists manage the fishery. In addition to limiting a fisherman's annual catches of abalone, the abalone punch card provides important data used to estimate the abalone catch, both for the fishery as a whole and for specific sites along the coast.

Abalone divers 16 years or older are required to purchase an abalone punch card along with their sport fishing license. Fishermen must immediately fill in the date, time and location on the card, and punch a hole for each abalone taken. The analysis of the data from the report cards depends on all the cards being returned regardless of the number of abalone actually harvested by each license holder. The 2003 abalone punch cards are required to be returned before Dec. 31 to DFG, 19160 South Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg, CA 95437.

Information about abalone report cards, the Abalone Recovery and Management Plan, and other abalone information is available on the DFG's Web site at www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd.

# # #

 

[OCdiving Deb]

Wouldn't it be great it of we all knew personally what an abalone looks like? I have seen only one in Orange County. Nice picture drbill!

It is ironic, with this thread regarding abalone, that DFG sent out the ab closure notice a few minutes ago. Also, the sport-harvested mussel quarantine is OVER. I will post to that thread too.

kelphelper

 

[saf_25]

John H. Moore once bubbled...


...Feeding abalone is a lot of fun.

I'm so glad that I had previously read this thread, because we saw an abalone at Lion's Head on Catalina yesterday, and because of this thread, my buddy and I were able to "play" with it for quite awhile. I saw the abalone sitting on a rock (my buddy had no idea what it was and admitted that he didn't know why I was so excited to see such a boring looking shelled creature) and remembered reading something about feeding them, but didn't remember how you said to do it, and couldn't figure out how to feed something with no obvious mouth or eyes. I knew enough not to try to move the abalone itself because I didn't want to hurt it, so I grabbed a piece of kelp (all the while with my buddy looking at me like I was losing my mind) and figured that the only thing I could do was hold it next to the shell and see if it responded. We were both surprised and awestruck when the abalone peeled part of its body back and "reached out" (in the best way something without arms can) and took hold of the kelp, pulling it back under its body. It was awesome, and I feel lucky to have been able to see one!

 

[DFC5343]

John H. Moore once bubbled...
Jeesh, DFC5343, you really should stop picking on those baby lobsters... can't you find some your own size to fight with??

[nice bugs!]

I got those down your way...

 

[JustinW]

for all of those that will nevr see an abalone in the wild, or for those land lovers who won't get in the water with the man in the grey suit, Monterey Bay aquarium has abalone in the Kelp forest tank and several more scattered around the rest of the aquarium, I even saw one that looked like a hubcap, As of today only 5 weeks and 5 days until abalone season opens back up, then we drop the tanks and start holding our breath again.