ABALONE FARMING MOVES ASHORE 

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA -- JUST 25 YEARS AGO IN THE HEYDEY DESCRIBED IN JOHN STEINBECK'S "CANNERY ROW", MONTEREY HARBOUR WAS PRODUCING UP TO 250,000 TONS OF SARDINES A YEAR. LITTLE WONDER THAT MONTEREY BECAME THE "SARDINE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD". YET WITHIN THREE YEARS DURING THE EARLY 1970S, THE CATCH DROPPED PRECIPITOUSLY TO JUST 60 TONS. BY 1978 CANNERY ROW WAS A GHOST TOWN. TODAY, IT IS THE HOME OF THE RENOWNED MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM -- BUILT MAINLY THROUGH THE GENEROSITY OF DAVID PACKARD OF HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPUTER FAME WHO DONATED MORE THAN $50 MILLION TOWARDS ITS CONSTRUCTION. THE AQUARIUM HAS BEEN A CATALYST FOR A UPSURGE IN TOURISM, FIVE MILLION VISITORS DURING THE PAST THREE YEARS, ON THE MONTEREY PENINSULA.

ANOTHER ECONOMIC CATASTROPHE SIMILAR TO THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE SARDINES, AND HAPPENING IN THE SAME GENERAL AREA, IS THE BASIS FOR THIS STORY. THIS TIME THE FOOD IS ABALONE, THAT TASTIEST OF SEA FOODS.

LANDINGS OF WILD ABALONE OF ALL SPECIES, IN CALIFORNIA, HAVE BEEN DROPPING STEADILY FROM A HIGH OF 2.8 MILLION POUNDS IN 1961 TO ABOUT 300,000 POUNDS BY 1985.

LIKE ANY PRODUCT CONTINUALLY GROWING SCARCER, THE PRICE RISES AS QUANTITY DECREASES. WHERE ONCE A TOP PRICE OF $4 PER LB. WAS BIG NEWS, TODAY'S MARKET DEMANDS NEARLY $32 A LB. THAT'S $2 AN OUNCE. IT APPEARS INEVITABLE THAT ABALONE SOME DAY WILL REACH THE SAME PRICE PER OUNCE AS IT ONCE SOLD FOR PER LB.

HOWEVER, UNLIKE THE SARDINE INDUSTRY OF CANNERY ROW, ABALONE RESOURCES INC. OF VANCOUVER, CANADA ARE NOW USING INTENSIVE AQUA- CULTURE AND MODERN METHODS, TO EVENTUALLY EXCEED THE NATURAL CATCHES OF THE PAST. THEIR RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT TEAM HAS BEEN USING TECH- NOLOGICALLY ADVANCED SYSTEMS TO PRODUCE -- ON LAND -- ABALONE EGGS IN HUGE QUANTITIES AT THEIR HATCHERY AND JUVENILE FACILITY SOUTH OF HERE AT MORRO BAY, CALIFORNIA.

NOT ONLY HAVE THEY BEEN ABLE TO PRODUCE ABALONE EGGS IN QUANTITY, BUT ALSO ON CUE !! THAT'S RIGHT. AT A RECENT PRESS CONFERENCE CALLED FOR 1:30 P.M., THEY ANNOUNCED 20 MINUTES LATER THAT THEY HAD JUST PRODUCED TWO MILLION EGGS. THEY HAD STIMULATED EJECTION OF MALE SPERM BY ULTRAVIOLET IRRADIATION !! AS SOON AS THE SPERM WAS PLACED IN THE VICINITY OF JUST TWO FEMALES THEY RELEASED THEIR EGGS. COMPANY SPOKESMAN HUGH STATON ANNOUNCED THAT ABOUT "700,000 EGGS WOULD SURVIVE -- ENOUGH TO REPOPULATE THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA".

ABALONE RESOURCES, THE LARGEST SUCH FACILITY IN NORTH AMERICA, NOW HAS MORE THAN 1.25 MILLION RED (HALIOTIS RUFESCANS) ABALONE GROWING IN SIZE FROM A FEW MILLIMETRES TO OVER 30 MM (1 1/4 INCH).

A NEW "GROW OUT" FACILITY IS PLANNED FOR THE MID-CALIFORNIA COAST WEST OF GUADALOUPE. THE INTENT IS TO UPGRADE TO AN ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF 12 MILLION THREE-INCH, MARKET-SIZE CREATURES BY LATE 1991. A FURTHER QUANTITY WILL BE GROWN TO 4 INCHES THUS DOUBLING MEAT WEIGHT.

THE PROJECT WAS NOT WITHOUT PROBLEMS. CLEARING ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION HURDLES TOOK THREE YEARS AND CONSIDERABLE FUNDING. THEIR PILOT PLANT IS NOW EXPANDING INTO FULL-SCALE PRODUCTION.

SO BE PATIENT A LITTLE LONGER AND YOUR FAVORITE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT MAY AGAIN BE FEATURING THE FAMOUS RED ABALONE -- AT EVEN HIGHER PRICES. REMEMBER IF YOU DON'T WANT IT, THE JAPANESE DO. LAST YEAR THEY BOUGHT SIX MILLION POUNDS OF REPORTEDLY LESS DESIREABLE ABALONE FROM AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND MEXICO !! MORE INFORMATION: NORMAN MACKINNON, ABALONE RESOURCES INC., 675 WEST HASTINGS STREET, VANCOUVER, CANADA.

TEL 604/687-0026.

* * *

< previous | chapter index | next >
back to Main Chapter Listing
back to Home Page