The state Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously to ban sport fishing of abalone in Northern California in 2018 in an attempt to preserve the imperiled marine snail, popular as a seafood delicacy, said the San Francisco Chronicle. “There are multiple signs that this fishery is collapsing,” said Cynthia Catton of the Fish and Wildlife Department.
Abalone numbers have dropped with the loss of kelp forests and the exploding population of purple sea urchins, which compete with abalone for food. The state shortened the 2017 sport season for abalone and reduced the annual catch to 12 per person because of the decline. Commercial fishing of abalone was halted in California in 1997, as was sport fishing south of San Francisco, in hopes of rebuilding stocks.
State biologists have a different idea of how to preserve the abalone than do divers and the Nature Conservancy. The conservation group says it is possible to restore abalone numbers while allowing some fishing. Divers say legal fishing is better than the uncontrolled poaching that would be inspired by a ban.