Leave the Abalones Alone

As a tradition of Chinese New Years, the day before new years day families gather together to have dinner and one of the main items on the menu is abalone. Abalones are a delicacy amongst seafood lovers, especially in Asia, however due to their high demand they recently been listed on the endangered species list. As of February 19, 2009 the black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii) has been officially listed as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. All fishing of abalones in California is now regulated. Most of the abalones fished are usually exported to Asia. White abalone dinner is priced at about $450 in Hong Kong.

The biological lifestyle of abalones make it difffcult for them to survive. Abalones do not move once they have found a home. If there is not an abalone of the opposit sex within a yard away, they do not stand a chance to reproduce. As fishing of abalones continue, a lot of survivors don't have the opportunity to reproduce.

There are currently "fake" abalones that can be purchased and taste the same as real abalones, they are less expensive and less detrimental to the environment. One of these substitute is a kind of fungus and the other is made of flour. Let's promote the use of these substitutes so we can prevent further damage to the abalone population.