Just want to clarify that I did not say get rid of the SEA Otters....just take the protection ban off of them.   When something
is protected - it always upsets the food chain mess.

I grew up and was raised in the Bay Area and lived in California for 40 yrs.....so I personally saw the area where the Sea Otters
live and ate lots and lots of abalone.  We could see the empty shells in the area where they live.   AND the otters were
definitely multiplying faster than the abalone.

Yes we also saw the abalone overfished - by commercial abalone divers...not the sports diver.  A sports diver could only take 5
abs when we were in CA .... but the commercial ab diver could take as many as his boat could hold.

But after Paul Kanner's remark it looks like pollution has caused this disease problem in the abs.    AND there is definitely
plenty of pollution in California.

This is always an interesting subject for sure.   Last time we were in Eleuthera at Cape Eleuthera we literally tossed hundreds
of Strombus gigas back into the water at low tide.
They were all over the rocks to the right of the boat ramp.  AND I have to say that Strombus gigas is definitely over-fished in
the Bahamas and it doesn't seem to make much difference with them.    Those Bahamians eat those strombs every day.

Bobbi

peta bethke wrote:

> I agree 99% with your statement Jim/Bobbie with the exception to the sea otters, they eat urchins, abalone, clams, crabs and
> anything else they can crack open with a stone(basically in that order).
> I once overheard a "person" at a shell show saying that the decline of the abalone was due to sea otters and that they should
> be culled. Well the decline of the abalone is due to over-fishing  first , pollution second and disease third , all cause by
> humans , maybe we should cull the humans . This would also cure the problem with the dwindling resources of fishes , tigers,
> elephants, desert pupfish and the El segundo blue butterflies (sorry too late , extinct). so what is the solution? how about
> the state stepping up to the plate and engage it's resources into aquaculture of abalone? let's leave the sea otter alone and
> invest into better waste water treatment. Let's cull those who pour motor oil into the storm drain. Try and stop the endless
> tide nuclear waste the FRENCH dump into the north Atlantic (well they do{mostly because the vast majority of their
> electricity comes from nuclear [real cheap power once you have a place to put the waste]})!!!! so many places to put blame,
> so few to actually take blame..... oh and this is not in anyway a comment directed at anyone say the French who really need
> to stop dumping that plutonium 238 , it's real nasty breeder reactor excrement, I'm rather surprised Bob Ballard doesn't glow
> in the dark after he spent so much time on the bottom of the Atlantic in them submersibles. ferret
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From: Bobbi Cordy <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Saturday, April 22, 2000 12:30 PM
> Subject: Abalone
>
> |Hi all:
> |
> |We dove for abalone for years while we were in Caifornia.  Always taking
> |only the limit size, and obeying the laws.    Some of the best eating
> |there is...I knew all the Abalone recipes.
> |
> |We also watched the commercial abalone divers come in off Santa Barbara
> |with their boats just piled high with abalone.  It doe stake about 5-7
> |years for an abalone to mature to a good size.
> |
> |One law that was put into affect was protecting the Sea Otter.  The Sea
> |Otter lives in abalone.   The Sea Otter population now is immense....and
> |guess what they are thriving on?    AND it takes a "miracle" to get the
> |protection law taken off of anything!
> |
> |Pollution definitely is a BIG part of the abalone situation.  AND I am
> |sure it is the problem with Strombus gigas also.
> |
> |In the Bahamas (where we collect 5-6 times a year)  there is STILL
> |Strombus gigas absolutely everywhere...and the Bahamians bring in boat
> |loads of them every day and have done so for centuries.    The Bahamians
> |also do not use a lot of chemicals....they don't renourish their
> |beaches....everything is left natural (as God intended) even with the
> |Hurricanes, storms, etc.
> |
> |Just had to get my TWO-CENTS in!
> |
> |Bobbi Cordy
> |Merritt Island FL
> |Astronaut Trail Shell Club
> |