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You are here: Home / Diving and Fishing / Abalone Dreams of Past Harvest Seasons at Sea Ranch

Abalone Dreams of Past Harvest Seasons at Sea Ranch

March 20, 2021 by Donna Martinez

Abalone Harvesting Only in Your Dreams ~ For Now!

Remember when you dreamed of the annual spring opening of the abalone harvest season? April 1 was the day all divers along the northern coast of California longed for. It might be said it was a day of anticipation greater than Christmas! And just like Christmas, game wardens warned, “Be nice and not naughty!” Meaning, make sure you had your California tags and took no more than the year’s allowed limits of 18 total. But only a total of nine were allowed from Sonoma and Marin counties. 

And just like Christmas in our house… you could not dive for your prize underwater packages before 8 AM.

The Recreational Red Abalone Fishery to Remain Closed Until 2026

Sadly, that joyous occasion has once again been postponed. The harvesting of Red Abalone remains closed for at least another 5 more years until 2026 due to the Red abalone stocks’ continued large-scale die-offs. For that reason, at its December meeting, the Fish and Game Commission extended the fishery closure for an additional five years to 2026.  At that point, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife will once again review the health of our intertidal zone, to determine if the red abalone population and their primary food source, the bull kelp have recovered sufficiently from the invasion of the purple urchin and ocean warming. 

Red Abalone – Incentive for a Spring Vacation at Sea Ranch

Abalone diving was a particular incentive for a spring vacation at Sea Ranch.  However, as you may recall, the Commission first closed the fishery in 2017 because of the mortality of red abalone populations due to environmental stressors. Now, all we can do is recall all our fish tales and relive our adventures of “popping off the big one- a 10”.

Now we only dream of a time where we may once again sit down in front of a plate of freshly harvested red abalone prepared that very day served on a platter while staying at  Sea Ranch Abalone Bay Vacation Rental.

Picture Walk Down Memory Lane

There still remains plenty to do besides dive for abalone, but in this post, we take a moment to indulge in a little picture walk down abalone memory lane to offer up encouragement for Abalone Season 2026…should it actually happen.

Hope you enjoy our photo essay.

Abalone diving secrets

Many of our abs were taken out beyond Smugglers Cove in The Sea Ranch. Others are from Ft Ross.  Abalone dreams used to come true in our favorite location for diving at Smugglers Cove.

Smugglers Cove
Smugglers Cove just a 5-minute walk to the beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

two divers
Divers head out from Smugglers Cove

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prepare for the game warden!

There was nothing like the panic of not finding your Abalone Tags! The last thing you wanted was to be busted for poaching. They were our diving passport to fun and great eating later. For that reason, we always kept them safely in their pouch around our necks.

 

California tags
You MUST have CA tags!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cleaning abalone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read about abalone before you go

 book
Everything you ever wanted to know about Abs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preparation secrets for your abalone harvest

how to prepare abalone
How to clean and prep abs for cooking By Monterey Abalone Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our namesake and the challenges for finding the yummy mollusk

Owner holds two abalone
The 10-inch abalone which is the namesake for Abalone Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

climbing down to the ocean
Jorge walks down the cliff to dive in Fort Ross. NOTE- this year, 2015, parts of Fort Ross State Historic Park are closed to diving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

suiting up for diving
Suited up and almost ready to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

abalone , Sea Ranch , Fort Ross, Abalone Bay
Walking back up with a full catch of abs and fish can be tricky on the cliff’s loose shale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner prepared and served

preparing the mollusk
Nothing better than all joining in a great abalone feed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

serving abalone
Freshly caught, freshly fried, feasted upon in a frenzy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christening Abalone Bay

Abalone Bay
Abalone Bay with wishes of a great catch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woman showing abalone in each of her hands
Our daughter is a pretty good diver too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

two divers with abalone
We have diner tonight! Jorge Martinez co-owner of Abalone Bay and good friend and diving buddy, Doug

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fish cleaning station
Fish cleaning station located next to the garage

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abalone dreams of beating the record

largest abalone
Matt Lum of Santa Barbara, has the heaviest animal ever recorded by Buzz Owen, who has spent over 50 years studying gigantism in Haliotis (abalone) animals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Diving and Fishing, Fauna of Mendonoma, Holidays, Things to do Tagged With: 2015, ab diving, abalone, Abalone Bay, diving, Mendonoma, photo essay, Sea Ranch, vacation, vacation rental

About Donna Martinez

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Trackbacks

  1. 10 Sea Ranch Packing List Must Haves says:
    June 2, 2015 at 5:57 pm

    […] want to make sure you have current licenses and tags for fishing and abalone diving. You’ll also want to pack your fishing gear needed to catch that 18 pound ling cod off the […]

  2. Abalone Diving says:
    June 10, 2015 at 12:08 pm

    […] Besides abalone diving near Abalone Bay, he also dives at Fort Ross.  […]

  3. Abalone Season- Will It Return as a Viable Fishery in Northern California? says:
    February 2, 2021 at 7:25 pm

    […] after establishing new regulations in an effort to thwart their diminishing numbers. They included two critical changes for the abalone season. They included both a shortened season and the annual bag limit […]

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