Abalone on the North Coast of California

I recently enjoyed a coastal weekend north of Bodega Bay with great friends.  Not just any friends but ones who are as crazy as me about food and wine.  One happened to be a diver, wild about foraging for shellfish of the mollusk variety, thus the star of the weekend was abalone.

Saturday morning came very early.  Mike slipped out unnoticed, drove to Fort Ross, and was back in time for coffee.  Quicker than usual, he tagged three abalone and found the largest mussels I’d ever seen.

He reported visibility so great he could see the bottom on his free dive, which is essentially holding your breath.  (The second day’s dive at Russian Gulch was more difficult due to only 3 to 4 feet of visibility in the water.)  Being my first foray with Mike, I was curious to know how he got into abalone diving.

Having it in your blood helps.  Growing up in the late 60’s and early 70’s, his Dad and brother dove on the central California coast near the town of Morro Bay where his grandfather also dove for abalone years before.  As they dove, he’d collect clams with his Mom and sister.  Wanting in on the action, he eventually became a certified SCUBA diver.

Interesting to note, it was legal to SCUBA dive for abalone in the Morro Bay area as early as the 40’s, when his grandfather started rock picking them.  Unfortunately, the abalone fishery from Morro Bay south was wiped out once SCUBA gear was introduced.  Mike said abalone (or “ab”, as he refers to them) only grow about 1/8 to ¼-inch a year.  The legal size is 7-inches or larger so a 7-inch ab is at least 28 years old.  Sadly, it will be a very long time before they return to that area.

The ab limit is three per day/possession not to exceed 24 per year.  By law you must “tag” the ab immediately on exiting the water.  Mike shared he saw individuals being cited by the State Parks Ranger for not tagging their ab.  Kudos to Fish & Game (F&G) and law enforcement for being very active in enforcement of ab regulations!  While Mike wants to see the abalone fishery continue for his son, the rest of us selfishly confessed we want it to continue for our culinary pleasure.

There are also specific F&G regulations on dimensions for the “ab iron”, the tool used to pry the abalone off the rock.  Reasoning is if the foot of the ab is cut, it will lose its body fluid and die (bleed to death).  Also by F&G regulations you must measure the ab immediately upon removing it from the rock.  Mike uses an ab gauge for measuring before he puts it in his float.

Abalone Floats have a tire inner tube with a heavy duty Cordura cover that acts as a combination platform and floatation device that contains your tools and catch.  If it is 7-inches or more, you must keep it.  If less than 7-inches, you must return it to the area where found.  The purpose of the regulation is to keep accidental mortality of abalone down.  I like Mike’s practice of putting an ab that’s too small back in a place where it can reestablish itself quickly.  He found all Red abalone on our weekend, which must be 7-inches or larger.  These are the most prevalent in northern California and coincidentally the world’s largest type.

After this bit of education we went outside and cleaning began.  It’s hard work and takes muscle.  He didn’t find any pearls but did say a few have surfaced over the years.

After cleaning, Mike pulled out his “ab slicer”, a slicing guide his grandfather made to enable an even and thin slice.  Using a fillet knife with the slicer, he can cut a ¼-inch ab steak perfectly.

The steaks are then pounded thinner, which also tenderizes them.

His old family recipe is to bread and fry:  dunk in an egg and milk mixture, roll in finely crumbled Ritz crackers, then fry in butter.  But the group and Mike voted to be more health wise so Italian Bread crumbs, herbs and olive oil were used in lieu of Ritz and butter.

Dinner was superb both nights, which included oysters and clams from Hog Island Oyster Company, abalone and mussels, and dungeness crab picked up from a chance meeting with Mike’s friend who was crabbing at Dillon Beach.  Everything was delicious however the ab was my favorite– rich in flavor with a certain creamy seafood sweetness and slight crunch from the breading.

If you are lucky enough to come upon a fresh abalone, and don’t want to waste any meat, here is another recipe of Mikes for scrap meat use.

Take the scraps, chop them finely then mix with the leftover egg-milk blend and breadcrumbs.  Add a bit of grated mozzarella cheese, form them into small patties and fry until golden.  An easy abalone riff on crab cakes.