Bid to Ban Abalone Harvests Protested

Commercial fishermen rallied against a proposed state ban on abalone harvests Tuesday, two days before state wildlife officials meet in Monterey to discuss the issue.

About 25 commercial abalone divers met in Santa Barbara, said John Colgate, president of the California Abalone Assn. The association represents California’s 101 commercial abalone divers, about 10 of whom fish in local waters near the Channel Islands, Colgate said.

The divers and about 80 people who assist them would be out of work if abalone fishing were banned, he said, adding: “There would be no abalone industry.”

On Thursday, members of the California Fish and Game Commission will be updated on the progress of an ad hoc committee formed to discuss the future of abalone fishing. No vote is scheduled for the meeting.

In recent years, the state has banned the harvest of pink, green, black and white abalone. Currently, only red abalone are harvested.

John Duffy, a marine biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game, said a ban on fishing is among several courses of action the state could take to stem the decline in abalone. Other possibilities include transplanting abalone grown in laboratories, reducing harvest limits and banning harvests off parts of the California coast, he said.

Abalone harvests have been declining in the United States for about 25 years, Duffy said. From the 1930s through the 1960s, fishermen harvested 3.5 million to 5 million pounds of abalone each year. Annual harvests in recent years have been about 300,000 to 400,000 pounds.

Commercial and sport fishing, disease and the proliferation of sea otters, which feed on abalone, have contributed to the decline, Duffy said.